Challenge(s)
How can monitoring data be used to assess and reduce the port’s environmental impacts?
Good practice
Compile an inventory of the different types of environmental impact
The restrictions imposed by national and supranational environmental legislation offer an opportunity to adopt a proactive rather than a reactive approach by committing to dynamic, forward-looking environmental strategies. Before taking practical steps to monitor and manage the environmental impacts of ports, especially in port-city interface areas, these impacts need to be clearly identified and assessed. Compiling an inventory of the different types of environmental impact makes it easier to create future assessments and solutions. On the Balearic Islands, a series of monitors were installed to measure air quality, which can be checked by the population in real time.
Case study
In 2016, the Port Authority and the University of the Balearic Islands launched a study to assess the impact of port activities on the nearest population in terms of noise and air quality. The SmartSensPORT project began the following year in Las Palmas, where a network of sensors was installed at eight measuring stations, four in the North and four in the South, covering a total of 29 berths. This allowed noise and atmospheric pollution from the port to be analysed over the day and the week, depending on the types of vessels present. The project was extended to other general interest ports operated by the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands. Since autumn 2019, there have been six measuring stations at the port of Ibiza, four at the ports of Alcúdia and Port Mahon, and three at La Savina. The stations were positioned based on models showing gaseous emissions from ships, the port area’s topographical profile, the population distribution within zones influenced by port activity, and other meteorological stations measuring pollution. A total of 25 stations and 250 sensors measure levels of CO, NO2, O3 and SO2, as well as fine particles (PM10), and every ten minutes, send data on these pollutants, noise levels and atmospheric variables such as temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure and ambient temperature, and wind speed and direction. The Port’s website provides a platform to check real-time air quality and emissions data, and the initiative won the 2022 Air Quality & Emissions Show (AQE).
Additional information :
https://www.diarioelcanal.com/baleares-instala-sensores-de-contaminacion-del-aire-en-sus-puertos/ (Spanish)
https://www.portsdebalears.com/en/node/3911
https://kunakair.com/real-time-air-quality-monitoring-in-maritime-ports/
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