The minister for Trade, Industry and Energy of the Government of the Balearic Islands, Francesca Vives, and the director general of the Gas Natural Foundation, Pedro-A. Fábregas, opened today's seminar in Palma de Mallorca on "Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the environment".

Th seminar, organised by the Gas Natural Foundation and the Government of the Balearic Islands, analysed how the development of new technologies can contribute to reducing the environmental impact in developed societies of human activities such as agriculture, livestock farming, tourism and transport.

A book commissioned by the Gas Natural Foundation from the School of Industrial Organisation (EOI) was presented at the seminar. It summarises and analyses the ways in which new technologies are used to resolve environmental problems.

IT and reducing energy consumption

The first speaker was José María Boixeda, Gas Natural's Director of Information Systems Technology Planning, who described the use of IT applications to ensure the efficient consumption of energy.

Guidance on the solutions available

Rosa María Arce, lecturer at the Technical University of Madrid and the study's coordinator, described in detail the main contributions of ICTs to mitigating the environmental problems caused by the activities of society. The intelligent use of ICTs can help to reduce signficantly the impacts of these activities and improve our relationship with the environment in many areas.

Practical applications in three sectors

Three speakers gave presentations on the use of ITC applications to solve environmental problems. Firstly, the managing director of Agrotech Biotecnología Aplicada, David Piany, spoke about the role of ICTs in agriculture and livestock farming, while the commercial director of Nechi Ingeniería, Sergio Colado, described their uses in buildings in the tourism sector.

Then Diana Anguitar, representing Madrid's Municipal Transport Company, explained how technological development has helped the urban transport sector to reduce emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases.

The director general for Energy of the Government of the Balearic Islands, Josep Maria Rigo, and Jordi Cerdà, officer of the Government's Ministry for Transport and Town Planning, explained how the implementation of a GIS tool by the Directorate General for Energy had helped improve energy planning, a specific example of the use of ICT to solve environmental problems.

A new initiative from the Gas Natural Foundation

This project represents a continuation of the Gas Natural Foundation's work aimed at protecting the environment, providing information and training and raising awareness in society about respecting and caring for our surroundings.