Living trees are one of nature’s best carbon capturers; planting them can help counteract the carbon emissions of everything from cars to planes (though they're just a small part of a bigger solution). But the artificial version created by Columbia University professor Klaus Lackner has been grabbing carbon 1,000 times more quickly than the rooted versions (and “several hundred times better,” according to Lackner, than windmills) for a total of 90,000 tons of carbon each year--even without sunlight.
Synthetic Tree Soaks Up Carbon 1000x Faster Than the Real Thing
Each synthetic plant promises to do the work of a thousand old-style wooden trees
Klaus Lackner, a professor at Columbia University who is developing the tree, met with U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu last month to talk about the concept. In an interview with CNN, Lackner said the synthetic tree is "several hundred times better at collecting CO2" than windmill generators. Lackner says that for every 1,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide collected, the tree emits just 200 kilograms. This ratio is more than enough to warrant the relatively high cost of building the trees (about the same as a new automobile) or retrofitting coal plants.
/technology
'Synthetic tree' claims to catch carbon in the air
A conceptual design of how the "synthetic tree" might look should they ever reach the stage of production. As the wind blows though plastic "leaves," the carbon is trapped in a chamber, compressed and stored as liquid carbon dioxide.
The technology is similar to that used to capture carbon from flue stacks at coal-fired power plants, but the difference is that the "synthetic tree" can catch carbon anytime, anywhere
More than a year ago, Sir Richard Branson launched the Virgin Earth Challenge which promises to grant $25 million to anyone who can come up with the best method to capture significant amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide. While we've seen potential contenders before, a group of scientists from Columbia University in New York headed by Klaus Lackner, seems to be leading the pack.
Global Research Technologies, LLC
GRT is the global air-capture technology and intellectual property leader and is currently developing its ACCESSTM air-capture system for commercialization.
Artificial trees: A green solution?
Carbon capture, in the form of "artificial trees", is one idea explored in the BBC Two documentary Five Ways To Save The World. But could these extraordinary machines help to mitigate our excessive burning of fossil fuels and its consequence, global warming? 
Artificial trees mimic one of the greatest carbon capturers on earth
Professor Lackner estimates that every tree would remove 90,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year 
Would people be happy to look at fields of artificial trees?
Carbon dioxide gas would be injected into the sea bed
Sources
- Artificial Trees: Could They be Better Than the Real Thing? : TreeHugger
- Synthetic Tree Soaks Up Carbon 1000x Faster Than the Real Thing | Popular Science
- 'Synthetic tree' claims to catch carbon in the air - CNN.com
- Air Scrubber Can Soak Up One Ton of Carbon Dioxide Daily - GoodCleanTech
- GRT - Global Research Technologies: Carbon Dioxide Air Capture
- BBC NEWS | Programmes | Artificial trees: A green solution?
Related:
- Carbon capture: Scrubbing the skies | The Economist
- Columbia Magazine
- Synthetic Tree Captures Carbon 1,000 Times Faster Than Real Trees | Sustainability | Fast Company
- Synthetic Tree Promises Huge Carbon Dioxide Absorption Rate - GoodCleanTech
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