14 DAY TRIAL // Air pollution has gotten seriously out of hand as of lately. So much so that the World Health Organization considers it a leading cause of cancer.
True, clean energy sources are steadily gaining ground, but the fact of the matter is fossil fuels are still the overlords of the energy sector.
Since the battle against fossil fuels is far from over, Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde proposes that we fight pollution by literally removing contaminants from the air.
Well, how does he suggest we do that?
The designer imagines building what would be the world's largest air purifier, essentially a tower that would act like a vacuum cleaner and remove pollutants from its surroundings.
This air purifier, merely a concept for now, would stand about 7 meters (nearly 23 feet) tall and clean some 30,000 cubic meters (over 1 million cubic feet) per hour.
“By charging the Smog Free Tower with a small positive current, an electrode will send positive ions into the air. These ions will attach themselves to fine dust particles. A negatively charged surface - the counter electrode - will then draw the positive ions in, together with the fine dust particles.”
“The fine dust that would normally harm us, is collected together with the ions and stored inside of the tower,” Daan Roosegaarde explains the technology behind his concept air purifier.
As for all the dust and other contaminants collected by the Smog Free Tower, the designer says it could be collected and turned into jewelry which would in turn serve as a reminder that both we and the planet deserve better.
One such tower might soon be installed in Rotterdam
Earlier this month, Daan Roosegaarde launched a Kickstarter campaign that will run until September 16 and that he hopes will help him raise the money he and his team need to build the first Smog Free Tree.
Once completed, the tower-shaped mammoth air purifier will be installed in the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, after which it will travel all across the world to raise awareness about the need to curb air pollution sooner rather than later.
The Dutch designer's Kickstarter campaign aimed to raise €50,000 ($56,000) and has already met its goal, which means Rotterdam should soon get its much awaited Smog Free Tower.