How Advanced Air Quality Monitoring Is Transforming Industry, Cities, and the Planet
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Air is invisible, but its impact is everywhere.
At Libelium, we believe that measuring air quality is just the first step in a much larger journey, a journey that touches every sector of society. Our vision extends beyond the air: using real-time environmental data to make smarter decisions, foster healthier communities, and drive more sustainable operations.
While traditional monitoring focuses on pollutants like NO₂, CO, O₃, or PM₁₀ particles, our digital twin technology for the environment uncovers hidden patterns and strategic opportunities. Whether it’s optimising smart logistics in a port, ensuring safety in underground mines, or reducing methane on a cattle farm, our environmental monitoring solutions enable industries to operate, innovate, and grow sustainably using predictive analytics for environmental management.
Let’s explore how Libelium’s environmental digital twin solutions are reshaping real-world scenarios across land, sea, and air.
Smart cities: From urban air quality monitoring to tactical urbanism with digital twins
We love Cartagena. Some of our workers live there, and the city hall is always open to collaborate with us to improve the intelligence of their city. In Cartagena, Spain, Libelium has installed a complete solution to improve the air quality. This solution, named envair360, is a digital twin of the city, an ethereal urban map showing air flow, gas emissions, and their environmental impact. At the beginning, envair360 was only a help for a better designed Low Emission Zone, but now that the city has all the information, it has been able to:
- Restore abandoned areas to create sustainable urban green spaces, like the Bosque Roman (Roman Forest), providing vital “green lungs” for cities.
- Design Smart superblocks in areas with complex air quality issues to reduce pollution and enhance citizens’ quality of life.
Cartagena stands out as a pioneering city within the European Union, actively participating in various European projects. Leveraging real-world data from existing air quality monitoring solutions, the city is currently engaged in the development of a city metaverse and a comprehensive Local Digital Twins Dataspace (LDT-DS) project. These initiatives are designed to seamlessly integrate enriched data from other projects into Cartagena’s smart city platform.
Takeaway: It’s not just about measuring CO for compliance, but about using that information to take action and digital innovation to reduce air pollution and improve the quality of life.
Ports and logistics: Air quality as a key performance indicator (KPI) for smart shipping
Ports, indispensable arteries for global trade and coastal cities, regrettably contribute to environmental pressure through emissions from ships, trucks, and cargo handling. However, a transformative shift is underway in locations like Genoa (Italy), Gdańsk (Poland), and the Balearic Islands (Spain), where Libelium’s cutting-edge IoT air quality monitoring networks are redefining port operations.
These networks provide real-time data, enabling unprecedented insights into pollution levels and paving the way for more sustainable maritime practices.
More than just monitoring gaseous pollutants, the IoT sensor nodes strategically installed in critical port areas offer a holistic view of the environmental landscape. These advanced nodes also meticulously measure noise levels and crucial meteorological variables such as wind direction and humidity. This rich, multi-faceted data stream is directly integrated into port command systems, empowering managers with real-time environmental data and the intelligence needed to make informed, proactive decisions.
The integration of real-time air quality and environmental data allows port authorities to implement dynamic adjustments that significantly minimise environmental disruption. This includes the ability to:
- Reroute port traffic: Based on real-time pollution hotspots, traffic can be rerouted to less sensitive areas, mitigating concentrated emissions.
- Predict maintenance scheduling: Predictive insights derived from the data can inform optimal timing for vessel and equipment maintenance, reducing emissions from inefficient operations.
- Adjust cargo unloading operations: Data-driven adjustments to cargo handling procedures can minimise the release of airborne particulate matter and other pollutants during unloading.
Takeaway: By seamlessly combining granular air quality data with sophisticated logistics analytics, ports are shedding their traditional image as mere sources of pollution. Instead, they are evolving into pioneering eco-efficient hubs. This transformation sets a new, elevated standard for environmental responsibility within the maritime industry, demonstrating a commitment to safeguarding both the health of surrounding communities and the planet. This integrated approach not only improves port city air quality but also contributes to a more sustainable and resilient global supply chain.
Mining: Environmental monitoring and air quality to protect lives underground
Deep inside Thailand’s largest gold mine, environmental conditions are a matter of life and death. Libelium’s robust sensor networks are deployed throughout tunnels and extraction zones to continuously monitor parameters like CO, NOx, SO₂, and temperature variations.
These sensors detect dangerous gas concentrations, alerting teams instantly and feeding data into predictive environmental digital twin models that can anticipate ventilation needs or equipment failures.
Another Spanish case study involved an extensive investigation in Murcia’s mining region, utilising our technology to conduct a scientific assessment of the environmental impact of mining operations, specifically airborne metal contamination. The study spanned 10 months, collecting 1,392 samples from 14 locations. It employed Libelium’s Smart Spot devices and meteorological stations to analyse 43 substances, exceeding the scope of legally mandated metals. Although legal limits for mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium, or nickel were not surpassed, the research pinpointed specific areas where mining remains a primary source of metallic contamination. The findings aim to assist the regional administration in developing targeted environmental restoration actions to benefit local populations and ecosystems.
Furthermore, this environmental intelligence helps meet international safety standards and strengthens ESG reporting. In an industry often marked by opacity, Libelium brings transparency and trust.
Takeaway: It’s about using air quality data to save lives, extend the lifespan of machinery, and reduce downtime in one of the harshest environments on Earth.
Construction: Building sustainability from the ground up with air quality management
Massive projects like NEOM’s “The Line” in Saudi Arabia demand not just scale, but vision. Libelium deployed an advanced, AI-powered construction air quality monitoring system to control dust emissions, noise pollution, and gas levels along the 170 km construction corridor.
Combined with meteorological forecasting, the platform enables real-time adaptive dust suppression and ensures zero-tolerance thresholds for particulate matter in nearby communities. This turns the construction process itself into a sustainable practice, not just the final result.
Takeaway: Air quality ceases to be a passive metric and becomes an active factor in the project’s design. This protects workers, respects ecosystems, and aligns megaprojects with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Agriculture: Measuring methane for a more sustainable farm
Agriculture is a significant source of greenhouse gases, especially methane. On a cattle farm where Libelium partnered with blockchain innovators, we installed IoT sensors capable of detecting methane concentrations and correlating them with animal routines, feed types, and climate conditions.
The data is not just stored; it is validated and traced via blockchain. This allows farmers to earn carbon credits, optimise their feeding strategies, and demonstrate transparency to consumers and regulators.
Takeaway: It’s about closing the loop: transforming invisible methane emissions into sustainability assets that can be measured, managed, and monetised.
The power of environmental Digital Twins
Across all these sectors, a key concept emerges: the Environmental Digital Twin. This is a live, dynamic replica of physical conditions, built from the data collected by Libelium’s technology.
These digital twins allow cities, industries, and governments to simulate future scenarios, model the impact of climate change, and test decisions before implementing them in the real world.
By integrating real-time environmental data from envair360 (such as air quality, noise, temperature, or motion) into Libelium’s platform iris360 or third-party platforms, project managers don’t just gain a clear view of the present (insight), but also the ability to anticipate the future (foresight).
In a world searching for climate solutions, monitoring air quality is not the end goal. It is the starting point for systems thinking, cross-sector collaboration, and action with measurable results.
At Libelium, we are proud to go “Beyond Air,” creating intelligent ecosystems that unite sustainability, safety, and operational excellence. From underground tunnels to coastal ports, from construction sites to cattle fields, we turn the invisible into an invaluable resource.
Let’s stop just measuring the air and start using that data to change the world.
Want to learn more? Explore our environmental solutions or contact us to co-create your next digital twin project.
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