The scientific progress offers us a lot of new ways to deal with old problems, in particular - problems with ecology. Gradually, the Veil retreats and humanity assumes great responsibility, and also takes on more and more complex processes. Old methods and answers lose their relevance, while new elegant solutions occupy their place.
Cleansing the city: we have everything we need!
China had recently tested a 100-metre high air purification tower in Xian in Shaanxi province - the system has brought some locals a noticeable improvement in air quality. The implementation of a new system has led to the improvements in air quality which could’ve been observed over an area of 3.86 square miles. Each day the tower produces around 353 million cubic feet of clean air - it is even able to reduce smog.
Eventually, developers of the original system hope to build a 1640 ft version of a tower surrounded by 11.6 square miles of greenhouses - the system will be powerful enough to purify the air of a small city!
The Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde invented a 23 feet tall air purifier named a “Smog-free Tower”. The device sucks up smog and filters over 30 thousands of cubic metres of air per hour.
A vision of future
A Dubai-based architecture firm named Znera Space came up with a proposal to clean one of the world’s most polluted cities - Delhi. Back in 2017 the situation in the city was so bad that the quality of air had reached the level equivalent to each denizen smoking 44 cigarettes a day.
The Smog Project revolves around building a large amount of 328 ft high air filter pods. Each pod will produce over 353 million cubic feet of clean air. The network of pods may be connected by “sky bridges”, containing solar cells, that will power the entire system.
It is difficult to imagine that such a project would be implemented in the near future, but even a couple of towers, similar to those built in China, would definitely aid the Indians.
Mobile filtering systems
Why would somebody install a static filter at a fixed location if it can be placed on a moving object, for example, on the roof of a bus?
One of the UK’s largest bus operators, The Go-Ahead Group, came up with the idea of installing an air filter on a Bluestar bus! The system will remove ultrafine particles from the air along the route of the bus with 99.5% efficiency.
If all Bluestar buses receive the same system, the air across the whole Southampton area will be cleansed 16 times a year up to the height of 10 meters.
A living filter
High technology filters are great, but we still prefer to see something green and living. The nextgen air filtering system may be made of… moss! Most likely such systems will form the basis of the smart cities of the future.
Technology is not something that needs to be placed on the facade. The best facade is a natural and a green one, accompanied by deers that roam the streets of city. The technology should form a frame and hide from prying eyes, providing citizens with warm and unseen care.
A German startup Green City Solutions came up with the idea of a CityTree customisable solution. The concept combines the green view of vertical plants with air purification where usual moss acts as a filter. Plants may also be used for the purposes of advertising - arranged freely in the form of a colour logo or a QR-code.
In addition to all sorts of filters, I would like to mention a number of other positive news:
- Japan is actively building a hydrogen economy. The Japanese Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry calls for Japan to be home to 40,000 fuel-cell electric vehicles by the end of 2020, to reach 200,000 FCEVs by 2025 and hit 800,000 FCEVs in 2030.
- The World Bank has vowed not to fund any more coal-power projects and it has established an internal carbon-pricing system to decide whether to fund any new project.
- China is banning the production of petrol and diesel cars “in the near future”. The Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer Changan Automobile has announced that it will not sell any more traditional fuel vehicles by 2025. The company plans to invest $15 billion into four areas of new energy vehicles.
- Back in 2017, the Benchmark Mineral Intelligence megafactory tracker included over 26 battery cell plants. The combined planned capacity of these plants was equal to 344.5GWh.
- Toyota has announced that it’s aiming to completely eliminate petrol and diesel vehicles from its range by 2050 in an effort to radically reduce emissions.
- State regulators of California have set goals to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 80% by 2050, and aim to put 1.5 million ZEVs on roadways by 2025. California may become the first state to ban gasoline-fueled car sales by 2040.
- According to Bloomberg, by the year 2040, 54% of new car sales and 33% of the global car fleet will be electric. Falling battery prices will bring price-competitive electric vehicles to all major light-duty vehicle segments before 2030. The global adoption of EV will start between 2025 and 2030s.
Despite the enormous amounts of pollution and a pile of other problems, mankind is gradually waking up and preparing to take the responsibility for the home planet. Better late than never.