Mechanical Trees Will Be A Game Changer For Fixing Climate Change

Carbon emissions are one of the leading causes of global warming and climate change in the world. Unfortunately, human activity has released so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that nature is no longer able to eliminate it. There are simply not enough trees. 

But what if there was another way? What if... instead of continuing to dump carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, we were able to use our technology to remove it? 

That’s exactly what Arizona State University professor and director of Center for Negative Carbon Emissions Klaus Lackner has been working on since the early 1990’s. Through a collaboration between ASU and Silicon Kingdom Holdings, a startup company in Dublin, Lackner’s technology will be used to install the world’s first mechanical tree at the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory.

How do mechanical trees work?

When the wind passes through stacks of discs on the 30-foot tall “trees”, carbon dioxide is sucked in. After the trees fill up, they collapse and keep the carbon to be stored.  

Not only are mechanical trees much more efficient at removing carbon than natural trees, but their ability to store carbon also makes them even more useful in battling climate change.

What can carbon be used for?

Carbon dioxide is used in a number of ways, primarily in the food and agricultural industries. In the past, these industries relied on manufactured carbon dioxide which added to global emissions.

The mechanical trees would make carbon dioxide available at a much lower price, thereby reducing the need for commercial carbon dioxide production.

Currently, manufactured carbon dioxide costs upwards of $600 per ton.  Reyad Fezzani, a director at Silicon Kingdom Holdings, says that the goal is to use mechanical trees to bring the cost per ton to the lowest level possible, ideally below $100.

Lackner is optimistic that the carbon collected by his technology might be able to bring the price down to as low as $30 per ton.

The fuel industry may also benefit from the carbon stored by mechanical trees.  The process of refining oil and gas requires a lot of energy and the finished product releases even more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Using carbon from mechanical trees could cut way back on these emissions.

Besides lowering the emissions created by refining oil and gas, the captured carbon could also be used as a fuel source to limit the need for fossil fuel use.

What is the future of mechanical trees?

After the initial prototype is built at ASU, Silicon Kingdom Holdings hopes to begin mass-producing trees to be shipped around the world  Each mechanical tree farm would contain about a dozen trees and capture around one ton of carbon dioxide a day. Both governments and private companies will be able to purchase the trees for an innovative, cost-effective way to lower their carbon emissions 

Photo by Silicon Kingdom Holdings