THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY: Monitoring greenhouse gases from space

We are living through an unprecedented climate and environmental emergency, a fact which has become the defining feature of our time. Political momentum for addressing the human impact on the Earth’s climate and environment has never been higher. Globally, all eyes are on the Paris Agreement and its implementation – particularly now that the United States has re-joined the treaty, and the EU has launched a far-reaching set of policies and actions in the form…

15

Feb 2021

Market Trends

Key EO developments expected to define 2021 (Part 2)

Last week we had a first look at key 2020 trends expected to impact the Earth Observation (EO) sector in 2021 and, in all likelihood, for years to come. We therefore zoomed in on some of the main ecosystem developments, discussed how public and private investment appear to be increasing, and underlined the importance of EO in supporting key policy initiatives such as the Green Deal and the New Industrial Strategy for Europe. Further, we…

28

Jan 2021

Market Trends

Key EO developments expected to define 2021 (part I)

“Remoteness” is probably the best way to describe 2020 which, as we move forward, most of us might direly hope will become a distant memory. Despite such wishes, the year’s events – dominated by the COVID-19 outbreak which affected even the most remote areas on Earth – are highly likely to haunt our individual and collective consciousness for quite a while. This is because both the bigger picture of 2020 and its finer details, serve…

21

Jan 2021

Market Trends

Show me the money! – Financial opportunities for emerging Earth Observation-based businesses

Indisputably, Earth Observation (EO) generates great economic value! Yet, for many EO-based solutions, the path from lab to the market is anything but guaranteed. As expected, securing cashflow during the early days (for operational costs, infrastructure set up, solution development, etc.), when risks are high and revenues mere projections, is vital. Consequently, this article explores funding opportunities relevant to service providers developing EO based solutions for commercial purposes, such as, for instance, many of the…

14

Jan 2021

Market Trends

Would your research benefit from taking a good look at our planet? Explore Earth Observation funding opportunities with OCRE

Is the OCRE Earth Observation Services Funding for Research Call the boost your research needs? Dedicated to the European research community, OCRE seeks to provide researchers with an easy access to Earth Observation, commercial cloud and digital services – once user requirements are identified (following the aggregation of demand from the research market in Europe), OCRE will manage the adoption funds and procure the required services from selected suppliers (OCRE will act as customer) on…

09

Nov 2020

Market Trends

A far-reaching pandemic – COVID-19’s impact on sectors where EO services could make a difference

High impact decision making, especially during unprecedented situations, requires reliable information and feedback loops. As experienced by each of us individually during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, adaptation and reaction are heavily reliant on the timely acquisition of dependable insight (in this particular case, symptoms, patterns of contagion, treatment, income certainty and social support, travel restrictions, etc). With humanity at a standstill due to widespread lockdowns, Earth Observation carried on enabling the designated…

16

Sep 2020

Agriculture, Climate, Disasters, Ecosystem, Health, Market Trends, Renewable Energy, Water

The opportunity and challenge of building a Planetary Digital Twin

Prototyping and modelling are very much the norm among innovators and advanced manufacturers, as they offer extensive testing and refinement opportunities, vital when fiddling with novel, high impact technologies. But what if modelling could help humanity better understand Earth’s complex ecosystem and the different components at play? Introducing “Digital Earth”: concept, next steps, and opportunities. More than twenty years ago, U.S. Vice-President Al Gore articulated a vision of “Digital Earth” as a multi-resolution, three-dimensional representation…

13

Aug 2020

Disasters, Health, Market Trends, Renewable Energy, Technology Trends, Water

Swift as the wind: current and upcoming trends in the wind energy sector

Increasingly frequent, there is news about renewable energy (RE) overtaking traditional energy sources. In the first half of 2020, and for the first time ever this ground-breaking milestone has been achieved: more electricity in Europe was generated from renewable sources than from fossil fuels. But does this signal a “wind of change”? To assess this, we look into the future development of the field, with particular attention to the wind energy sector, and the upcoming…

07

Aug 2020

Market Trends, Renewable Energy, Technology Trends

European Green Deal in need of monitoring solutions

In December 2019, the European Commission (EC) presented the European Green Deal as the strategy and roadmap that will guide Europe towards becoming climate-neutral by 2050. The European Green Deal is made up of policies and initiatives, e.g. regarding clean energy, biodiversity, sustainable food systems, and pollution. It aims to tackle climate-environmental challenges, but also to transform the European economy and society towards sustainability and inclusiveness, protecting its natural assets as well as health and…

29

Apr 2020

Ecosystem, Market Trends

Health check from above

Human health is precious, foremost for the individuals themselves, but also for society as a whole. In good health, citizens can perform better and keep healthcare costs lower. Various factors influence our health, including the air we breathe, the food we eat and the way we lead our lives. Our overall wellbeing is also influenced by socioeconomic factors such as social environment, wealth, or education. In this context, many policies have our health at their…

22

Apr 2020

Health, Market Trends

How Earth Observation is helping us rethink our approach to agriculture

Around one third of all food produced for human consumption currently goes to waste while, simultaneously, over 10% of the world’s population is suffering from hunger and malnutrition. If we could reduce these enormous food wastages, it is estimated we could feed an additional 1 billion people and reduce our global carbon footprint by 4.4 Gt CO2, equating to over 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This startling information alone should be enough for us…

15

Apr 2020

Agriculture, Market Trends

Policy, market and technology trends in EO-assisted water resource management

A lot of the recent technological and market developments in the realm of Earth Observation (EO)-assisted water resource management evolve in parallel with European policies where EO can have an impact. These are legislations such as the Water Framework Directive (WFD), the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), and the Floods Directive. The close relation between policy, market and technology can be seen within each of the e-shape pilots involved in Water resources management. Pilot 5.1…

08

Apr 2020

Disasters, Market Trends, Technology Trends, Water

Renewable energy and Earth Observation: photovoltaics in the centre of solar-related market, policy and technology trends.

This contribution is the first from a series of articles dedicated on the use of Earth observation (EO) within the Renewable Energy (RE) sector. While we will continue exploring different sub-sectors of RE, for now we focus exclusively on solar energy. The drying-up of non-renewable energy resources and the need to cut emissions and minimise as much as possible the negative anthropogenic impact that led to climate change, has caused many debates. As a result,…

07

Apr 2020

Market Trends, Renewable Energy, Technology Trends

Common Agricultural Policy – Driver and Beneficiary of Earth Observation solutions

The production of food, development of rural communities, and environmentally sustainable farming are all high on the agenda of the European Union (EU). Policies and support mechanisms for agriculture aim, among other, to secure the sufficient and sustainable production of safe food, employment and innovation in the sector, and a positive impact on linked communities and the economy at large. The EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP) is a partnership between agriculture and society, and between…

03

Apr 2020

Agriculture, Market Trends, Technology Trends