Thaicom platform can evaluate carbon credit quickly, ‘at affordable price’
“CarbonWatch”, a platform launched by space tech company Thaicom Plc, is utilising artificial intelligence and satellite technology to evaluate carbon absorption of forest areas.
It is the first of its kind in Thailand to be certified by the Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organisaton.
The project is a part of the Thailand Voluntary Emission Reduction Programme and is in line with Thaicom’s mission of using space technology to fulfill ESG [environmental, social, and governance] goals, Thaicom CEO Patompob Suwansiri said on Thursday.
He said Thaicom had partnered up with the Mae Fah Luang Foundation in developing a platform that could evaluate carbon credit in a fast, accurate, reliable and verifiable manner at an affordable price.
“With a fee of only 100-300 baht per rai, CarbonWatch is cheaper and faster than the traditional method of using humans to list numbers of trees in a forest,” he said. “The platform can cover large areas of community forests whose carbon credit capability government agencies or private companies may want to evaluate. The Mae Fah Luang Foundation alone has more than 290,000 rai [46,400 hectares] of forests that need evaluation.”
Patompob added that Thaicom had been operating in the satellite business for over 30 years, and had extensive knowledge and expertise in aerospace operations, marketing strategies, and in securing partnerships both domestically and internationally.
“Thaicom aims to expand its business scope from satellite operations to becoming a space tech company within the next five years,” he said.
He revealed plans to introduce three new businesses to complement their core satellite services:
Software defined satellite service: Satellites that can be controlled in real-time from ground stations, allowing for efficient management of coverage footprints.
Low Earth orbit satellite business: Satellites orbiting at altitudes ranging from 350 to 2,000km above Earth's surface.
New space econometrics: Utilising satellite data for various applications such as satellite image processing, data analytics, and environmental monitoring, including the CarbonWatch project.
Patompob said that these three new businesses currently contribute only 1-2% of the company's revenue. Thaicom aims to increase this figure to 20% within three years, representing a major future market opportunity for the company.
