- Title: Street filters suck viruses and pollution out of the air
- Date: 1st June 2021
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC IN CENTRAL LONDON
- Embargoed: 15th June 2021 20:33
- Keywords: OOH Pluvo Column filter technology cleans the air of harmful pollution and doubles as brand advertising displays airports installed in pollution hotspots malls out of home advert rail stations remove particulate matter viruses
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Pollution,Environment,Europe
- Reuters ID: LVA002EFPJIAJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Air filters disguised as adverts that suck viruses and pollutants out of the air could be installed in pollution hotspots such railway stations, airports and shopping centres, according to their developers.
UK cleantech start-up, Pluvo, has joined forces with one of the world’s largest advertising agencies to launch the technology, that cleans a cubic metre of air per second, or the equivalent of 2,000 human breaths, while being paid for by big brand adverts.
“We thought ‘is there a way to essentially package up clean technology, innovative clean technology and put it in the places that need to deal with air pollution the most,’ and that’s kind of what the Puvo Column embodies,†the company’s chief executive, Matteo Maccario told Reuters.
“And the externals are meant to be a display that can also monetise the service through essentially brand sponsorship,†he said.
A six month trial of an eleven-foot-high (3.35m) Pluvo Column in North London has proven its ability to clean up to 99 percent of harmful particulate matter, noxious gases, and airborne viruses.
Even 13 metres away from the column, third party monitoring of the three-stage filtration system has recorded a reduction of up to around 20 percent on gases and 60 percent on particulate matter, Maccario said.
“We see the impact obviously varying a bit on the environment, so how is the wind that day? What’s the local environment like and what are the air pollution levels? But in the correct location this could have a significant impact in terms of creating a clean air zone,†he said.
The company’s collaboration with Kinetic, part of WPP, will fund the roll-out of the technology which they aim to pay for with brands sponsoring the units, which can be wrapped in outdoor advertising.
“Pluvo will need the support of brands to succeed and grow but we feel the opportunity to be a partner at this very early stage with something that could be world changing like Pluvo will be very attractive to a lot of clients,†said Dominic Murray, Head of Innovation at Kinetic.
The company is now in talks with a range of major brands to sponsor installations and has seen strong interest from renewable energy suppliers and EV companies.
About 40,000 deaths in Britain each year are linked to air pollution which kills an estimated seven million people annually world-wide, according to the World Health Organisation.
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