Environmental risks of low-altitude economy and bioengineering-based mitigation strategies: a multi-dimensional empirical analysis

Abstract

With the rapid expansion of low-altitude economy, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircrafts have triggered severe multi-dimensional environmental risks, including noise pollution, carbon emission accumulation, and ecological disturbance, which have become bottlenecks restricting its sustainable development. Researchers have mostly focused on physical/chemical governance methods and legal regulation, while the application potential of bioengineering technology in this field is seriously underexplored. In this paper, we conducted a quantitative analysis of environmental impacts based on multi-source empirical data from four typical pilot areas (Shanghai, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Hainan) during 2022–2025. The results showed that eVTOL operating noise exceeded the WHO safety threshold by 25–35 dB, and the cumulative growth rate of environmental complaints (263.5%) was 95.1 percentage points higher than that of registered UAVs (168.4%). Lithium-battery eVTOL emitted 18–22 kg CO₂ per 100 km, 2.5 times that of new energy vehicles, with significant cumulative pollution potential. On this basis, we systematically evaluated the feasibility of four core bioengineering mitigation technologies through technical readiness level (TRL) and life cycle assessment (LCA) methods. A staged technical roadmap for bioengineering-led comprehensive environmental governance is proposed, which provides a new technical paradigm for the green development of low-altitude economy.

Keywords

low-altitude economy / environmental risk / bioengineering / bionic noise reduction / microalgae carbon sequestration / ecological restoration / biosensor monitoring

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