TED2018
Romain Lacombe: A personal air-quality tracker that lets you know what you're breathing
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How often do you think about the air you're breathing? Probably not enough, says entrepreneur and TED Fellow Romain Lacombe. He introduces Flow: a personal air-quality tracker that fits in your hand and monitors pollution levels in real time. See how this device could help you track and understand pollution street by street, hour by hour -- and empower you to take action to improve your health.
Romain Lacombe - Environmental entrepreneur
Romain Lacombe creates technology to track and forecast air quality levels in real time. Full bio
Romain Lacombe creates technology to track and forecast air quality levels in real time. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
So for the past 12 years,
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I've been obsessed with this idea
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that climate change
is an information issue
is an information issue
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that computers will help us fight.
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I went from data science
to climate policy research,
to climate policy research,
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from tech to public service,
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in pursuit of better data
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to avoid the wasted energy,
resources, opportunities
resources, opportunities
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that lead to runaway carbon emissions.
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Until one day, running in the streets
with a friend, it hit me:
with a friend, it hit me:
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the same cars, factories, power plants
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whose emissions are wrecking
our climate over time
our climate over time
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also release harmful, local pollutants
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that threaten our health
right here and right now.
right here and right now.
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All this time I'd focused
on the long-term environmental risk
on the long-term environmental risk
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when I should have been up in arms
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about the immediate health impact
of pollutants in the air.
of pollutants in the air.
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01:00
Air pollution is a burning
public health crisis.
public health crisis.
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It kills seven million people every year,
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it costs five trillion dollars
to the world economy
to the world economy
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and, worst, it robs us
of our most precious gift,
of our most precious gift,
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the years in our lives:
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six months of life expectancy
in my hometown of Paris
in my hometown of Paris
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and up to three, four, five years
in parts of India and China.
in parts of India and China.
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And in the US, more people die
from car exhaust than from car accidents.
from car exhaust than from car accidents.
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So how do we protect
ourselves from pollution?
ourselves from pollution?
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The reason it's difficult
is an information gap.
is an information gap.
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We simply lack the data
to understand our exposure.
to understand our exposure.
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And that's because the way
we monitor air quality today
we monitor air quality today
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is designed not to help people breathe
but to help governments govern.
but to help governments govern.
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Most major cities operate networks
of air-quality monitoring stations
of air-quality monitoring stations
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like this one in London,
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to decide when to cut traffic
or when to shut down factories.
or when to shut down factories.
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And these machines
are like the computers from the '60s
are like the computers from the '60s
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that filled entire rooms.
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They're incredibly precise
but incredibly large,
but incredibly large,
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heavy, costly --
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so much that you can only deploy
just a few of them,
just a few of them,
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and they cannot move.
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So to governments,
air pollution looks like this.
air pollution looks like this.
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But for the rest of us,
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air quality looks like this.
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It changes all the time:
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hour by hour, street by street,
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up to eight times
within a single city block.
within a single city block.
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And even more from indoor to outdoor.
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So unless you happen to be walking
right next to one of those stations,
right next to one of those stations,
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they just cannot tell you
what you breathe.
what you breathe.
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So what would environmental
protection look like
protection look like
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if it was designed
for the age of the smartphone?
for the age of the smartphone?
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So for the past three years,
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my team and I have been
building a technology
building a technology
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that helps you know what you breathe
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and fits in your hand.
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Flow is a personal air-quality tracker
that you can wear with you
that you can wear with you
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on a backpack, a bike, a stroller.
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It's packed with miniature sensors
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that monitor the most important
pollutants in the air around you,
pollutants in the air around you,
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like nitrogen oxides,
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the exhaust gas from cars,
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or particulate matter
that gets into your bloodstream
that gets into your bloodstream
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and creates strokes and heart issues.
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Or volatile organic compounds,
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the thousands of chemicals
in everyday products
in everyday products
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that we end up breathing.
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And that makes this data actionable
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and helps you understand
what you're breathing
what you're breathing
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by telling you where and when
you've been exposed to poor air quality,
you've been exposed to poor air quality,
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and that way you can make
informed decisions
informed decisions
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to take action against pollution.
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You can change the products
you use at home,
you use at home,
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you can find the best route
to cycle to work,
to cycle to work,
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you can run when pollution is not peaking
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and you can find the best park
to bring your children out.
to bring your children out.
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Over time you build better habits
to decrease your exposure to pollution,
to decrease your exposure to pollution,
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and by tracking air quality around them,
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cyclists, commuters, parents
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will also contribute
to mapping air quality in their city.
to mapping air quality in their city.
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So we're building more than a device,
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but a community.
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And last summer,
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we sent early prototypes of our technology
to 100 volunteers in London,
to 100 volunteers in London,
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and together they mapped air quality
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across 1,000 miles of sidewalk
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and 20 percent of all of central London.
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So our goal now is to scale
this work around the world,
this work around the world,
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to crowdsource data so we can map
air quality on every street,
air quality on every street,
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to build an unprecedented database
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so scientists can research pollution,
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and to empower citizens,
civic leaders, policy makers
civic leaders, policy makers
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to support clean-air policies for change.
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Because this can and must change.
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Remember cigarettes in bars?
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It took decades of lung cancer research
and second-hand smoking studies,
and second-hand smoking studies,
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but eventually, we reached a tipping point
and we passed smoking-ban laws.
and we passed smoking-ban laws.
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We must reach the same tipping point
for air quality and I believe we will.
for air quality and I believe we will.
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In the past couple years alone,
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governments have fined
carmakers record amounts
carmakers record amounts
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for cheating on emission standards.
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Cities have passed congestion charges
or built bike lanes --
or built bike lanes --
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like Paris that turned this highway,
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right next to my home,
in the middle of the city,
in the middle of the city,
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into a waterfront park.
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And now mayors around the world
are thinking of banning diesel outright
are thinking of banning diesel outright
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by 2025, 2030, 2035.
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But how much faster could we go,
how many lives could we save?
how many lives could we save?
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05:12
Technology alone
will not solve climate change,
will not solve climate change,
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nor will it make air pollution
disappear overnight.
disappear overnight.
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But it can make the quality
of our air much more transparent,
of our air much more transparent,
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and if we can empower people
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to take action
to improve their own health,
to improve their own health,
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then together we can act
to bring an end to our pollution.
to bring an end to our pollution.
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Thank you very much.
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05:31
(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Romain Lacombe - Environmental entrepreneurRomain Lacombe creates technology to track and forecast air quality levels in real time.
Why you should listen
With his environmental technology startup Plume Labs, inventor Romain Lacombe builds advanced technologies to help citizens measure, track, map and forecast the quality of the air they breathe. Plume's free app sends live smog alerts to help you take action against pollution. "Air quality is the first avoidable cause of death today," Lacombe says. "Yet no tech company or government agency is addressing it with our focus, resolve and citizen-centric approach." Lacombe's team is currently developing Flow, a wearable air-quality sensor that analyzes ambient air quality, alerting users as well as creating crowdsourced air-quality maps.
More profile about the speakerRomain Lacombe | Speaker | TED.com