'Artificial forest' sucks 1,000 tons of CO2 per day

Scientists claim that the 'machine tree forest' has the ability to absorb C02 in the air, helping to slow down the rate of climate change.

As the owner of the initiative, Professor of Engineering Klaus Lackner at Arizona State University (USA) said the 'engine tree' can absorb air pollution thousands of times more effectively than natural trees.

The image simulates a "forest of trees" with columns of plates stacked on top of each other to absorb polluted gas in the air.

They are tall, vertical columns of discs. Each plate is 1.5 meters wide and 5 centimeters apart. They are coated with chemical resin and stacked like a column of vinyl records.

This plastic is used to absorb CO2 in the air. And after about 20 minutes full of gas, they automatically fall into a container, where the CO2 is separated and put into a sealed environment. After that, they will continue the cycle of absorbing CO2 in the environment.

Currently, this model simply stores CO2, not converts it into oxygen like real trees, or reuses carbon for other purposes. However, according to the inventor, in the future the source of CO2 that the "engine" can store can be reused as a synthetic fuel such as gasoline, diesel or kerosene.

Lackner plans to build three large-scale 'machinery' farms, with the first of which will be launched in Arizona later this year, thanks to a US$2.5 million investment by the Department of Energy. quantity. They are being designed and built by the ASU Center for Negative Carbon Emissions.

When all three of these 'forests' are in operation, they will have the capacity to absorb 1,000 tons of CO2 per day, which promises to be an important step in reducing emissions around the world. In addition, we can easily install the "machine tree" wherever needed with a durability of up to decades.

Over the past 200 years, since the Industrial Revolution, humans have consumed fossil fuels in record amounts and released carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

It is a potent greenhouse gas and enters the atmosphere at a faster rate than natural sources - such as trees - can remove it. When it accumulates in the atmosphere, it causes global warming.