Air pollution might be invisible, but it results in 7 million premature deaths each year. Fortunately, there’s a solution – the CityTree is a high-tech green wall that scrubs the air of harmful particulates – and it has as much air-purifying power as 275 urban trees.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P4o38xd68U
As you might have guessed, the CityTree isn’t really a tree. Instead, it’s a moss culture. Zhengliang Wu, co-founder of Green City Solutions said: “Moss cultures have a much larger leaf surface area than any other plant. That means we can capture more pollutants.”
The CityTree is under 4-meters-tall, approximately 3-meters-wide and 2.19 meters deep. Two versions are available – one with or without a bench – and a display is included for information or advertising.
Due to the huge surface area of moss installed, each tree can remove dust, nitrogen dioxide and ozone gases from the air. Additionally, the installations are fully autonomous, as solar panels provide electricity and collected rainwater is filtered into a reservoir where it is pumped into the soil.
Related: Air pollution is the leading environmental cause of death worldwide
The invention also has WiFi sensors which measure the soil humidity, temperature and water quality. “We also have pollution sensors inside the installation, which help monitor the local air quality and tell us how efficient the tree is.” said Wu.
Every day, a CityTree can absorb around 250 grams of particulate matter. Over the length of an entire year, the invention can remove 240 metric tons of C02.
Green City Solutions seeks to one day install CityTrees in major cities around the world – but they presently face bureaucratic challenges. Said Wu, “We were installing them (the CityTrees) in Modena, Italy, and everything was planned and arranged, but now the city is hesitant about the places we can install because of security reasons.”
Regardless, the company will persist and already has plans to introduce the invention to India, where air pollution has reached dangerous levels in certain locations.
So far, 20 CityTrees have been successfully installed in major cities around the world – including Oslo, Paris, Brussels and Hong Kong. Costing about $25,000 each, they are a big investment – but one deemed to be worthwhile as they clean the air of harmful contaminants.
Via CNN
Images via Green City Solutions
