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a team of Dutch inventors has unveiled a giant air-cleaning vacuum that they say filters out fine particle pollution from the surrounding air, but this project isn't about art, it's purely about functionality.
"It's a large industrial filter about eight meters long, made of steel... placed basically on top of buildings and it works like a big vacuum cleaner," Henk Boersen of the Envinity Group, the makers of the device, told the AFP.
The device can suck in air from a 300-meter radius and from up to four miles above and can clean 800,000 cubic meters of air an hour. It filters out 100 percent of fine particles and 95 percent of ultra-fine particles, based on prototype tests carried out by the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands.
All they need now is to build another two dozen coal-fired power plants to run the vacuums.
(Score: 2) by Farkus888 on Friday October 28 2016, @02:40AM
Don't rain clouds need dust in the air to seed themselves? That is just the first unintended consequence to come to mind.
(Score: 1) by Francis on Friday October 28 2016, @04:20AM
Yes, I'm also curious about where they're getting the energy to build these devices and run them once installed.
This could be a useful way of dumping some excess electrical capacity, but I can't imagine how this is going to be efficient enough to be worthwhile when compared with technologies to just not emit the stuff in the first place.
(Score: 2) by Sarasani on Friday October 28 2016, @04:35AM
compared with technologies to just not emit the stuff in the first place
I guess part of the problem is that air pollution knows no boundaries. When we outsource production of our goods to the cheapest countries (which are much more likely to have less stringent environmental protection laws), we could still end up with pollution from those production areas. However, I do not know what distance these (extra) fine pollution particles could potentially travel. Considering that Saharan dust storms occasionally reach central/northern Europe, I guess those distances would be significant.
Not that I disagree with you though: usually much easier to tackle an issue at the source.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday October 28 2016, @12:38PM
Hmm, perhaps they're thinking that they can use the particulates they filter out of the air as more landfill to expand the homeland. Those wily Dutch...
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 28 2016, @02:15PM
I remember reading about a small dry valley in northern Africa. Dust that is picked up from there is a major source of minerals for large areas of the Amazon forest canopy.
(Score: 1) by Francis on Friday October 28 2016, @02:28PM
That's a fair point, but there again, it would make more sense to spend that money not buying things from countries with terrible environmental practices.
(Score: 2) by Sarasani on Thursday November 03 2016, @01:48PM
Yes, that would make more sense. And I try to not buy things that will break before their time is up/planned obsolescence. The thing is: it's getting harder every day to buy things that are NOT PRODUCED in such countries.
An example: a mate of mine wanted to buy an electrical sander from a large hardware chain. All the main brands were "Made in China". Now, I'm not necessarily equating "Made in China" with "junk" (although I have to say: it's pretty close to it). We, unfortunately, simply no longer have a choice in many instances. Want to buy a quality brand? No worries. Just remember that the vast majority of the products are coming off a huge conveyor belt that runs directly from China to [insert your country of residence]. What can we do. As consumers?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Friday October 28 2016, @04:28AM
Exactly what I was thinking.
Dust is a self solving problem.
I thought we were supposed to be working on CO2 extraction from the air?
http://www.sciencealert.com/a-canadian-start-up-is-removing-co2-from-the-air-and-turning-it-into-pellets [sciencealert.com]
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/531346/can-sucking-co2-out-of-the-atmosphere-really-work/ [technologyreview.com]
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 28 2016, @07:16AM
Particulate mater is not exactly 'self solving'. Right after it rains it is ok. But eventually guess what drys out and gets blown around again?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 28 2016, @08:58AM
From what I understood, heard.
CO2 is a problem ofcourse, but the fine particulates from car exhaust are much worse for public health than C02. It's this kind of particles that cause reduced air quality in cities, not so much CO2. (Your lungs aren't worried to much when they see CO2, the other stuff however, ...)