Following the Supreme Court’s recent judgement, the new Government will have to take urgent action to reduce urban pollution and to instigate monitoring regimes that are able to demonstrate success or failure of the new measures. Environmental monitoring specialist Air Monitors has unveiled a new technology it claims can help achieve this at a fraction of the cost of traditional monitors.
At the Air Quality and Emissions Show, in Telford on 22-23 April, the firm demonstrated new “lightweight, low-power air quality monitoring technology”. Staff were also questioned by Sky News, and helped explain why 29,000 people die prematurely from air pollution in the UK every year.
Emphasising the advantages of the latest technologies, the Air Monitors stand showcased portable and mobile monitors on helium balloons, on a bicycle, on an electric car, and even fitted to a quadcopter (see image). An ITV film crew also visited the stand in preparation for a May issue of Tonight focusing on air pollution. Commenting on the AQE event Jim Mills said they were delighted with the quality of enquiries received. “Our Workshops were also very well attended with high levels of interest in the performance data that we unveiled for AQMesh.”
“AQMesh is a new type of air quality monitoring station, offering users almost reference quality data in small wireless, battery-powered, web-enabled ‘pods’ that can quickly and easily be mounted on any lamppost or pole, providing information on the air that people are actually breathing,” Jim added.
Measuring five of the main polluting gases, the latest AQMesh will also be able to measure particulates, and Jim says it is taking the market by storm: “The Supreme Court judgement, the AQE Show, the General Election and heightened media attention have all combined to raise the issue of air pollution and health to a level where we should see some real progress, and happily the technology is ready to help.”
