Six smog-eating designs that purify the air

Algae helps take a bite out of pollution.

UpdatedSat, May 14, 2016 at 3:00 PM UTC

By Cat DiStasio

Air pollution is a huge problem in cities around the globe. The widespread burning of fossil fuels combined with the destruction of air-cleaning forests results in dense concentrations of smog in large urban centers. What's more, the World Health Organization estimates that air pollution contributes to 7 million premature deaths each year. To address this enormous public health problem, engineers from around the world have developed some cool (and crazy) gadgets to help clean up the air. In Italy, the world's first vertical forest have inspired designers around the world, but smaller projects are actively fighting pollution too. From a sidewalk that eats smog to an air-cleaning vacuum that turns pollution into jewelry, you'll be amazed by the ways people are working to improve air quality.

Switzerland has a tradition of embracing clean, green technology, so it's no surprise to learn that it's the birthplace of this cool air-cleaning overpass, which turns pollution from cars into fuel for tiny photosynthetic organisms. The French- and Dutch-based Cloud Collective built the urban algae farm on a highway overpass as a display for the 2014 Genève: Villes et Champs garden festival. Huge clear pipes hold brilliant green microalgae, which feed on carbon emissions from passing cars.

Each year, MoMA PS1's "Summer Warm-Up" series brings amazing designs to life, and many of those creations focus on improving the environment. One incredible smog-abating concept came in the form of "Wendy," a spiky, blue, pollution-busting pavilion designed by HWKN.

The pavilion combined off-the-shelf materials and scaffolding systems with a PVC facade coated with a titanium nanoparticle (TiO2) spray, which actually neutralizes polluting airborne particles. During Wendy’s visit at MoMa, the sculpture achieved the emissions equivalent of taking taking 260 cars off the road.

Crowdfunding helped designer Daan Roosegaarde create the world’s largest smog-sucking vacuum cleaner last fall in the Netherlands. His contraption is part of his larger goal to rid urban parks and cities of pollution. Renewable energy powers the seven-meter-tall Smog Free Tower, which cleans 30,000 cubic meters of air per hour.

Like a larger than life version of home air purifiers, Roosegaarde’s smog sucker uses an ionic filter to remove pollution, creating bubbles of super clean air in public spaces. The smog dust collected by the tower will be compressed and transformed into wearable jewelry -- a unique perk for the project’s Kickstarter backers.

Bosco Verticale is an architectural solution to the growing problem of air pollution in densely populated urban centers. Built in Milan in 2014, the skyscraper features myriad forested balconies that add up to 2.5 acres of greenery. More than 21,000 individual plants do what plants do: suck up excess carbon dioxide and generate oxygen, leaving the city air cleaner than before. The foliage also helps dampen the ambient sounds of urban life, cutting down on noise pollution.

Another smart idea for cleaning up city air was developed by a group of students at the University of California at Riverside. These roof tiles coated with titanium dioxide actively break down particles that would otherwise turn into smog, and they greatly reduce the harmful nitrogen oxide gas emitted by vehicles and power plants. The invention was entered in a design competition sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency, and the student team won $15,000 to continue developing smog-eating building products.

A year before California students put titanium dioxide on roof tiles to combat smog, a team of Dutch scientists from the Eindhoven University of Technology tried a similar trick with pavement. The coated "photocatalytic pavement” cut smog almost by half in control tests. Using titanium dioxide on the street to reduce air pollution does seem to work amazingly well over short periods, but the coasting loses efficacy over time, and it costs more than conventional concrete. So while it isn’t likely to revolutionize urban roads just yet, the technology could still have some useful applications.

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Swiss overpass uses algae to eat auto emissions

Switzerland has a tradition of embracing clean, green technology, so it's no surprise to learn that it's the birthplace of this cool air-cleaning overpass, which turns pollution from cars into fuel for tiny photosynthetic organisms. The French- and Dutch-based Cloud Collective built the urban algae farm on a highway overpass as a display for the 2014 Genève: Villes et Champs garden festival. Huge clear pipes hold brilliant green microalgae, which feed on carbon emissions from passing cars.

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