Olores.org Newsletter May 2024

   On 24 April this year, the European Parliament approved the provisional agreement on the new Air Quality (AQ) Directive. This is one of the last steps before a new Air Quality Directive is published and implemented in the 32 countries under the European Environmental Agency (EEA) umbrella. Is there anything related to odour levels in the new text of the AQ Directive?

   Over the last few years, we have seen how Air Quality (AQ) panels and apps are growing around our cities. They usually show a message with AQ levels of "good," "fair," "moderate," "poor" and "very poor". These levels are much related to the existing Directive on Air Quality. This Directive is about to be replaced by a new text recently approved by the European Parliament. The question is: will this new AQ Directive incorporate any provisions regarding odour levels in ambient air?

   Lakes Environmental Software has announced the acquisition of the CALPUFF atmospheric dispersion modelling system from Exponent. This transaction, confirmed on 5 May 2024, marks another step in the evolution of CALPUFF, a model widely used by researchers, environmental consultants, and regulatory agencies globally.

    CALPUFF is a US EPA Guideline model for all applications > 50km, it is also the guideline model for all near-field applications where the steady state assumption does not apply, i.e., complex terrain and complex meteorological environments (Sea breeze, boundary layers, etc.). In addition, it is a model widely used in odour modelling. The code of this model, while being publicized as "freely available," is not open source, as far as we know. Over the years, the ownership of the code has changed from SRC to TRC, Earth Tech, Exponent, and now Weblakes.

   The International Environmental Association of Odour Managers (AMIGO), together with the help of this website and other collaborators is organising the next Odours in the Environment Congress 2025. This event will take place on 9-10 April 2025 in Santiago, Chile, in the auditorium of the UNAB Casona de Las Condes.

   This type of event brings together engineers, scientists, researchers, students, local authorities, managers, industrial activities and other professionals in order to address and discuss emerging odour problems and follow the progress of the Odour Management Strategy developed in the last years by the Chilean Ministry of Environment. The programme of this International Congress on Odours in the Environment will address all these issues and the current state of development in this area, to serve as a reference for future trends.

   We are glad to share with you that the preliminary program of the Odora2024 Odours Conference organized by this website is now available. The event will take place on the 5th and 6th of November 2024 in Bilbao (Spain).

   More than 30 communications have been received for this Conference that will be held entirely in Spanish at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre on the 5th and 6th of November 2024.

   The International Odours Congress 2025 organizing committee welcomes all your abstracts for oral and poster presentations. This Odours in the Environment Congress 2025 organized by the International Environmental Association of Odour Managers (AMIGO), together with the help of this website and other collaborators, will be held in Santiago, Chile, on 9-10 April 2025. The abstract submission period starts now until July 12th, 2024.

   The International Odours Congress 2025 will be held on the 9^th and 10^th of April 2025 in Santiago, Chile. This event is organized by the AMIGO Association, with the collaboration of the website Olores.org. This event will take place in the auditorium of the UNAB Casona de Las Condes, in Santiago, Chile, entirely in Spanish.