The Port of Barcelona installs the first digital mupi with active air purification in the world

Clear Channel and the Urban Air Purifier company have developed this digital device, pioneer in the market in the use of hybrid advertising urban furniture systems with air purification.

The outdoor advertising multinational Clear Channel has installed in the Port of Barcelona the first prototype integrated into advertising street furniture, whose innovation is that it also reduces pollution and generates clean air spaces on public roads..

The digital mupi or marquee with active air purification is part of a joint development between Clear Channel and Urban Air Purifier, a company from Barcelona, created in 2019 like a spin-off from the advertising specialist Ginsa, to distribute anti-pollution machines with built-in digital advertising screens.

This device, that is capable of purifying the 99% of the particles and 80% of gases harmful to health, according to the data provided, It has been designed and manufactured in order to eliminate toxic gases such as Carbon Monoxide (CO), NOx, volatile organic compounds and also PM10 and PM2.5 particles, causing diseases such as lung cancer or stroke.

Specifically, This digital mupi is capable of purifying the air that pollutes 3.000 cars in circulation within its area of ​​influence (around 40 metros). Their capacity is comparable to what they purify 20 trees or what they filter 1.320 masks, according to data from Urban Air Purifier.

This initiative to use hybrid advertising street furniture systems with an air purification system is a pioneer worldwide.. The project has had the collaboration of the Port of Barcelona, where Clear Channel manages outdoor advertising.

The new facility allows the creation of small islands of cleaner air at a local level and is one of the Catalan port's initiatives that are integrated into its innovation strategy and creation of improvement solutions in its environment., including air quality.

The Port of Barcelona remembers, however, that its strategy to reduce emissions from port activity to a minimum involves the energy transition, promoting the use of clean energy, as well as the electrification of the docks, projects both already underway.

Thanks to it, in 2030 emissions caused by port activity will have been reduced by 50% in the case of greenhouse gases, and in a 51% go NOX, also achieving a significant reduction in PM10 and PM2.5 particles.

Urban Air Purifier has developed this equipment in collaboration with several universities and technology centers, like the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (Polytechnic University of Catalonia), the University of Barcelona, the Higher Center for Scientific Research (CSIC) y Eurecat.

For Jordi Sáez, Clear Channel Southern Europe market leader, “It is a very relevant innovation, since air pollution is the cause of more than nine million deaths each year in the world and the loss in the quality of life of many more millions of people. Each team, like the one installed in the Port of Barcelona, has a range of about 40 meters so clean air corridors can be created in different areas of cities where there are pollution and air quality problems.".

This manager also emphasizes that “thanks to the joint work of Urban Air Purifier with Clear Channel and the collaboration of the Port of Barcelona, ​​we have been able to develop and test, with magnificent results, a device that clearly helps brands communicate, while reducing air pollution and fulfilling our purpose of improving life in cities”.

The president of the Port of Barcelona, Mercè Conesa, has reaffirmed its commitment to public-private collaboration, innovation and sustainability, strategic axes of the IV Strategic Plan 2021-2025 of the entity, which has been recently presented.

“We are building the port of the future,” he stressed., facing post-pandemic future scenarios with the participation of economic agents, social organizations and companies that help us guarantee their competitive positioning in the most desired scenarios”.