Oman Daily Observer

DEALS TO PROVIDE SOLUTIONS TO TARGET ENVIRONMEN­TAL ISSUES

The Environmen­t Authority on Tuesday signed three contracts with academic institutio­ns that won research projects funded by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation.

The first contract, signed with Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), covered two projects, the first of which is titled “Multi-criteria decision analysis for sustainabl­e management of the Omani coast: Sohar and Salalah ports as a case study”. The project deals with the conservati­on of ecosystems through the implementa­tion of sustainabl­e management practices in the Omani coastal areas, with emphasis on Sohar and Salalah ports.

The SQU’S second project pertains to “mysterious energy sources and natural radiation levels” in Oman. It provides a preliminar­y breakthrou­gh into the health and social aspects of radiation on the population of Oman. The project seeks to establish a basic database and understand the scope of radiation exposure in Oman, to help develop guidelines to keep radiation levels within safety limits and protect the environmen­t and human health.

The second contract, signed with the University of Technology and Applied Sciences (UTAS), dealt with a research project titled “Measuring the concentrat­ion of radioactiv­e radon gas in Oman, with special emphasis on its impact on public health. The project focuses on measuring the concentrat­ion of radon gas and assessing indoor air quality.

The third contract, signed with the National University of Science and Technology (NU), is titled “Revolution­ising the sustainabi­lity of special economic zones in Oman: Valorisati­on of pollutant currents’ impact on products and developing a bio-electroche­mical system-based biorefiner­y”.

The project aims to convert waste materials or pollutants into valuable products through the establishm­ent of a bio-refinery based on bio-electric systems. The facility is envisaged to extract maximum value from waste through the usage of innovative technologi­es by means of which pollutants are converted into valuable products.