FRONTIER TECHNOLOGIES TO TACKLE AIR POLLUTION

Catastrophic global climate change is not an event waiting to happen, it is the reality facing the world right now, today, and urgent action is needed to tackle it. Cutting-edge frontier technologies such as AI, clean energy, digital twin, or robotics can help mitigate and combat these challenges, according to a recent UN report.

The importance of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in environmental resource management opens a new debate for the policymakers in order to promote green technologies to mitigate high mass carbon emissions in Vietnam. The use of green technology is imperative for achieving long-term sustainable growth in Vietnam. The government has to examine the long-run relationship between ICT exports, energy demand, and carbon emissions. By the inclusion of human capital in the environmental sustainability agenda, it is one of the initiatives to delimit carbon emissions through knowledge diffusion all across Vietnam.

Using AI to reduce air pollution and hydrological risk

In cities, AI can help with route and traffic optimization, cutting waiting times, enabling better traffic flows, facilitating autonomous and ride-sharing services (in effect cutting the number of vehicles on roads and helping increase driver compliance with environmental regulations).

The report explores the case study of Moscow, where AI-powered intelligent traffic control systems help monitor traffic through an extensive network of smart traffic lights, vehicle sensors, and CCTV, controlling smart intersections and providing commuters with essential real-time information on traffic, weather, and pollution conditions.

Using Internet of Things (IoT) for smart energy infrastructure management to help reduce carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions

ITU has defined the Internet of Things (IoT) as "a global infrastructure for the information society, enabling advanced services by interconnecting (physical and virtual) things based on existing and evolving interoperable information and communication technologies" (Recommendation ITU-T Y.2060/4000).

The corresponding rise in wireless technologies is also considered a symbiotic factor in the rapid and evolving proliferation of IoT as a distinct frontier technology. Thanks to increasingly cost-effective IoT-enabled devices and systems, a multitude of new opportunities for gathering vital data have opened up, with the potential to be used in Vietnam.

IoT can help scientists in Vietnam to bridge the so-called scientific divide. If we define the digital divide as being the gap between those with access to digital technologies and those without, the scientific divide can be defined as the gap between those with access to scientific data and those without. Today, scientific data is collected mainly using a limited range of expensive equipment that uses wired infrastructure, particularly when it comes to environmental applications. Data collection has been a costly, difficult task restricted to a relatively small number of fixed, sparsely distributed locations and maintained by organizations with large budgets. As a result, the data gathered are often incomplete, especially in developing countries and remote areas. IoT could radically change the situation; this low-cost, low-power technology does not require any pre-existing infrastructure to operate and can be deployed in most remote areas. The vast range of sensors that can be connected to the nodes support many different scientific applications.

IoT’s use in optimizing services and systems to increase accountability toward and combatting climate change is one of the ways that it is being deployed by cities at the forefront of smartness and sustainability.

From remote rural areas to the heart of busy cities, IoT sensors busily gather scientific data to help mitigate climate change and promote energy efficiency. Combining IoT initiatives with other smart sustainable city initiatives, in addition to having a distinct IoT-related strategy are among the best ways to ensure the technologies are fully leveraged and deployed. Nevertheless, any transition to a fully energy-efficient economy will take time, and will entail fundamental economic and regulatory changes requiring the mobilization of different authorities.

Utilizing ICT to reduce carbon emissions

ICTs substantially increase carbon emissions that need advancement in cleaner production technologies to achieve the environmental sustainability agenda. Novel engineering concepts have come to the fore such as carbon capture and storage. A process in which emitted carbon emissions are taken from large emitting resources, taken into storage, and then depositing it in deep underground, a place where carbon wastage will not enter the atmosphere. In automobiles, many technologies are now introduced like EFI (electronic fuel injection) through which we can increase the fuel efficiency of the car with the reduction in fuel consumption. For carbon emissions, a device called a catalytic converter is placed just behind the end of silence, which converts the poisonous gas of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. Technologies like EURO (2, 3, 4) are introduced which decreases the carbon emissions to a small scale.

In the industrial sector, ICT infrastructure may play a significant role in decreasing the number of carbon emissions that emit from the factories. By incorporating ICTs, industries can become more efficient by minimizing the use of resources. Top management can make decisions based on wisdom and intellect and create better communication through cross-industries to achieve real-time data. All these initiatives can enhance the efficiency of the industrial sector and thus put less reliance on conventional energy resources which will help in the reduction of carbon emission. For instance, Jaguar has just initiated a project called “REAL Car” which aims to reduce the use of aluminum as raw material by 75% and they will produce cars with production scrap. This will ultimately reduce the use of material and thus a reduction in aluminum waste.

In the construction sector, the use of modern sensors and advanced machinery can reduce the consumption of energy in heating and cooling. This will subsequently lead to reduction in energy usage throughout the system. According to a report named SMARTer 2030, published by Global-e-Sustainability Initiative, ICT infrastructure can reduce the usage of carbon emissions by 20% at the end of 2030. There should be a proper mechanism for data collection system or statistical software which provides a supervisory body to the allocation of resources to different sectors so that ICT usage can be ensured and utilized.

Nguyen Thi Hoai Linh

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References

• Cristina Buet (2020). “Frontier technologies to protect the environment and tackle climate change”. Retrieved from https://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-t/opb/tut/T-TUT-ICT-2020-02-PDF-E.pdf

• Hassan Ahmad Nizam, et al. (2020). “Achieving environmental sustainability through information technology: “Digital Pakistan” initiative for green development”. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-020-07683-x