AirForestry receives two Vinnova grants
AirForestry is the innovation company that wants to contribute to the forestry of the future by developing the technology of thinning trees from the air with drones. The company has received two grants from Vinnova, Sweden's innovation agency, for developing technology and enabling commercialization.
Earlier this year, AirForestry, the company that wants to reinvent forestry and offer a solution for forestry that strengthens the role of forests in climate change, launched. AirForestry is based on a groundbreaking new technology that uses electric drones to thin trees directly from the air. It is a type of thinning that gives lower emissions and less impact on the surrounding nature.
"A lot has happened since we launched in the autumn. Together with our partner Sveaskog, we have continued to develop our concept and test the technology at subsystem level. Now it's time for the next step. We are very proud and grateful for the two grants from Vinnova making this possible", says AirForestry's CEO Olle Gelin.
These are two different grants from Vinnova, one within the program "Vehicle Strategic Research and Innovation (FFI)", "Fossil-free mobile work machines - spring 2021" and one within the call "Upscaling for a sustainable industry".
The Vehicle Strategic Research and Innovation program (FFI) is a long-term collaboration between the Swedish state and the automotive industry to jointly fund activities with a focus on the areas of climate and environment, road safety and competitiveness specifically for fossil-free work machines. AirForestry will use that grant to perform integrated system tests in the field of electrified, more gentle forestry.
The second grant comes from Vinnova's call "Upscaling for a sustainable industry", aiming to develop new methods and strategies for forest management. The goal is to develop a technology that is able to autonomously make tree selection during thinning and develop thinning programs that optimize the forest for increased growth and biodiversity. The results of this project are important for the opportunity to be able to thin out the forest with drones in commercial operations. Pilot trials will be conducted with AirForestry's platform.
"These are two good projects that we will be involved in and be a part of in the next few years. By testing and developing our technology in the field, we have great potential to move forward in the process of starting to use our drones in commercial forestry operations. "Olle concludes.
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