Ricardo Concha, managing director of Transportes Ricardo Concha.

Air pollution is a major problem in Chile, and in recent years, the country has also suffered some major forest fires, which only make the air quality even worse.

In response to these issues, an imaginative and innovative new project which includes Scania Chile and its customer Transportes Ricardo Concha seeks to assess the air quality on Chilean motorways, while also helping with the early detection of forest fires.

The cab wall of one of Transportes Ricardo Concha‘s fleet of Scania trucks has been fitted with a special monitoring device that records and transmits weather and position data, as well as measuring the level of pollutants in the atmosphere.

“We operate Scania trucks since they help us minimise the environmental impact of transport,” says Ricardo Concha, managing director of Transportes Ricardo Concha.

“The sign on the trucks signalling our participation in this project will reinforce this recognition among customers.”

The project also involves Ericsson, Chile‘s largest telecom operator Entel and the Mario Molina Centre for Strategic Studies on Energy and the Environment.  The monitoring device has been developed by Entel and the Centre for Mathematical Modelling at the University of Chile.

“This is the first experimental air quality network using 4.5G technologies,” says Roberto Cabanillas, Ericsson Chile director of digital services.

“Normally an area is monitored using a fixed sensor, but in Chile, for the first time, one sensor in movement can monitor thousands of kilometres along a path.

“This is a perfect example of how partnerships across sectors and different areas of expertise can enable us to accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.”