As air pollution and climate change tighten its grip on planet Earth, governments and local councils look for new and innovative ways to combat it. From using renewable energy to mass tree planting initiatives, there's no shortage of attempts to reduce pollution. However, one, in particular, has caught quite a lot of attention in the city of London. A series of carbon dioxide filtering structures have recently been installed and are set to demolish CO2 levels in the capital.

A City Tree in place outside Leytonstone tube station. Photo: @ansonmackay

City Trees

Having been dubbed ‘City Trees’, these peculiar looking structures have enormous potential to help with CO2 pollution and therefore global warming. While they are being called trees, that's not strictly accurate as they are in fact more of a towered structure filled with a number of moss species. Each and every tower has the same air-cleaning capabilities as around 275 regular trees, which is absolutely remarkable.

A mechanical pollution absorbing "tree" has been installed on a side street near Piccadilly Circus as an experiment to improve local air quality.

So far, a pair of these City Trees has been erected outside Leytonstone tube station as well as on the intersection of Leytonstone High Road and Crownfield Road, both of which are pollution hotspots within the borough of Waltham Forest and had actually declared a state of climate emergency last year. These new structures will definitely help with that issue.

One of the first City Trees is already in use in Jena, Germany.

The Benefits

So, what are the specific benefits of these installments to the city, as well as its inhabitants? Well, apart from the amazing air-cleaning capabilities mentioned earlier, the mosses also have an uncanny ability to store large amounts of moisture which in turn helps keep the surrounding air cooler, which is especially useful in busy environments such as central London.

Pollution-sucking "smart" trees bring clean air to London.

Furthermore, all the City Trees include their own irrigation and energy systems which enables them to operate whatever the weather, and also collect data about the surrounding environment at the same time. This additional information can then be used to produce further green solutions.

Who would have thought moss towers in central London would have been a reality by 2020? Who even knew they had such powerful abilities to improve air quality? I definitely didn't! It's good to see that we, as humans, are finally taking responsibility for our actions and doing something to try and rectify what we've done to the environment. With the introduction of these first few towers, and hopefully many more, Londoners should start to see an improvement in the quality of the air they breathe.