“The port authorities reaffirm their commitment to sustainable development and the continuous improvement of their environmental performance”
TECNALIA has been helping to improve the environmental quality and supporting the Port Authority of Bilbao for more than 30 years.
TECNALIA has been supporting the Bilbao Port Authority for more than 30 years in its firm commitment to reducing its contribution to pollution levels by improving the air quality and noise levels of the operations it carries out in the Port of Bilbao.
The entities located close to densely populated urban areas often have to balance the development and management of port activities with the preservation of natural habitats and the quality of urban life. This is because their operations have significant impacts in terms of emissions, noise, water and soil pollution and habitat fragmentation. This situation highlights the need for port authorities to commit to sustainable development and continuous improvement in terms of their environmental behaviour, to enable the port to grow and operate sustainably, without losing sight of the fact that port authorities face various challenges, such as financial and regulatory challenges. For this reason, the environment has always been a priority for the European Commission in its various communications, and for the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) and Puertos del Estado, and, consequently, they have urged the Port Authorities to build an effective relationship between environmental management and port management.
Major landmarks in the port area
Over the years, TECNALIA has implemented a number of initiatives and programmes, such as our most significant landmarks, in which we have put our knowledge of environmental quality into practice
- Environmental monitoring programme: the environmental impact statement for the Port of Bilbao Expansion Works resulted in the first environmental monitoring programme, which requires air quality and noise levels to be checked and monitored, and the necessary preventive measures to be implemented with regard to the impact of port operations on the docks of Santurtzi, Zierbena, Getxo and nearby towns and villages. This programme has been extended over the years through different Port initiatives, legislative requirements relating to the different works, the needs identified and proposals for improvement made by TECNALIA.
- Environmental scorecard: in 2015, the Port of Bilbao launched its environmental scorecard, developed by TECNALIA. This scorecard makes it possible for the general public to find out about air quality conditions at the various monitoring stations, and to view various reports.
- Noise map: since 2004, as part of the HADA initiative, TECNALIA has drawn up various noise maps that comply with the requirements put in place while implementing the environmental monitoring programme. The maps have been drawn up in accordance with sectoral legislation regarding the preparation of strategic noise maps of port activities.
- Bilbao was the first port in the world to obtain the Environmental Product Declaration: in 2019, under the leadership of TECNALIA, Bilbao became the first port in the world to obtain the Environmental Product Declaration based on the Life Cycle Analysis of port services. This process is currently being updated.
- MACHSENSE, an artificial intelligence system for decision making when checking diffuse particle emissions in port environments: this initiative is led by BECSA, which works on developing and improving models using artificial intelligence to connect the physical world (on-site measurement and data processing activities and parameters) with the digital world (predictive models and action planning). MACHSENSE is a system capable of estimating the impact of diffuse emissions in port environments, with the aim of minimising the environmental impact of actions in port areas and planning the mode of operation to deal with adverse conditions for generating potential impacts. TECNALIA developed this prediction system, based on a combination of knowledge of the domain (air quality) and artificial intelligence techniques. It is an innovative method that reduces the operating costs of a monitoring network, and the computational time compared to physical dispersion models, and is a powerful decision-making tool.
Looking to the future
Our relationship with the Port Authority has been renewed for the period 2024-2028. During this time, in addition to the legally required work, TECNALIA will continue to work towards the future, such as bringing the new air quality regulatory framework into force by 2030. In April 2024, the European Parliament adopted the “Directive (EU) 2024/2881 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2024 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe”.
This new regulation has health at its core, bringing control values closer to the values recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which will be a challenge for certain sectors such as the port sector, due to particulate matter pollution (PM10 and PM2.5), which are pollutants in ports that are generally associated with handling and storing bulk solids.
