Concept: Port of Valencia, based on Spain’s east coast, has launched GREEN C PORTS, a real-time air quality, noise, and weather conditions monitoring and analyzing program. The initiative sets up two environmental control booths located at strategic points in the port that are designed to help improve the planning of port operations and as demanded to aid in controlling emissions and other environmental concerns.
Nature of Disruption: This initiative is testing the use of new technologies that comprise IoT, Big Data, and AI models to improve operations. The cabins are equipped with technology for monitoring atmospheric pollutants. Sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), PM10, and PM2.5 particles are all measured using five gas analyzers. A weather station is also included, which measures wind speed and direction, rainfall, solar radiation, temperature, relative humidity, and barometric pressure. The noise levels in the harbor are measured by sound level meters, and the data is received and processed in near real-time. This is in addition to an extensive network of stations at locations around the port. Currently, there are three weather stations, a dozen environmental sensors, predictive and static noise maps, a network of sound level meters, daily water cleaning, and periodic studies on water quality, ongoing at the port. The data from the monitoring is publicly available on the Internet so that people in the communities around the port can understand its environmental impact.
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Outlook: Valencia claims that the air quality has been assessed to be outstanding for 46 days and good for 10 days since the project started. The monitoring data is made freely available on the Internet so that individuals in the surrounding areas may learn about the port’s environmental effect. The data is also used by the Port Authority to plan operations and identify measures that may be made to decrease the port’s environmental effect. Valencia has poured in more than $350,000 in the two control booths and the sites were selected by the Centre for Environmental Studies for the Mediterranean (CEAM), a foundation for research, technological innovation, and improvement of the environment.
This article was originally published in Verdict.co.uk
