Slashing CO2Fighting wildfires before they start.
Big Picture
Fuel treatment or “good fire” is critical to wildfire and forest management. By reducing excess vegetation and replenishing soils, good fire can slash wildfire intensity by 10x, emissions by 80%, and damage by 8x. Yet, the US treats under 2% of the total acres required each year because standard practice is manual, expensive, toxic, and constrained to narrow weather windows that shrink as the climate changes.
How it Works
BurnBot is scaling good fires to prevent megafires. After remotely assessing vegetation, BurnBot deploys towed or driven robots that combust vegetation in controlled ignition chambers that trap fire, smoke, and particulates. Thermal sensors then direct foam and sprays that smolder embers. Lastly, burnt fuel is mulched and compacted to prevent re-ignition and replenish soils.
Unfair Advantage
By eliminating the risk of fire and smoke, BurnBot expands the window for fuel treatment from the handful of days when weather aligns with labor availability to virtually any time or condition. Relative to standard practices, BurnBot is 10x greater throughput, 60x lower cost, safer, and more precise. Their data analytics also quantify exact risk reduction, unlocking savings on insurance premiums.
60
Times lower cost
fuel treatment than drip torch ignition
ANUKOOL LAKHINA CEO & CO-FOUNDER
Anukool founded and sold the big data & AI company Guavus and used the proceeds to fund Wonder Labs, an NGO dedicated to wildfire reduction.
WALEED HADDAD CTO & CO-FOUNDER
Lee has 35 years of experience designing, manufacturing, and commercializing novel deep-tech products in national labs and startups. He holds a PhD in Physics.
SIMON WEIBEL HEAD OF OPERATIONS
Simon was previously a Hotshot Firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service. He was also Director of Fire Operations and Sales for drone ignition Drone Amplified.
Why climate change makes it harder to fight fire with fire
The New York Times
Forest Service finds its planned burns sparked N.M.’s largest wildfire
Washington Post
As California wildfire season nears, startup BurnBot is working on a high-tech approach to prevention
CNBC