Can synthetic ‘trees’ help tackle climate change?

Synthetic ‘trees’ that are thousands of times more effective at absorbing CO₂ than their natural counterparts could one day help slow climate change according to a report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Klaus Lackner, a physicist with the Earth Institute, first developed a prototype machine that would remove carbon dioxide directly from the air, called a ‘synthetic tree’. The design, which looks more like a cross between a rugby goal post and giant venetian blinds than a natural tree, is one of a number of so-called ‘geo-engineering’ projects that promise to reduce the effects of climate change.

Professor Lackner estimates that each ‘tree’ would cost £12,000 and over its lifetime would capture almost 20 times the amount of CO₂ it consumed during its production and operation. The trees could be located close to depleted oil and gas reserves.

The institution calculates that 100,000 artificial trees could capture all emissions from Britain’s homes, transport and light industry. It says that five million would do the same for the whole world.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said “We must not fool ourselves into relying on ideas like synthetic trees or cloud-producing ships – they are not the answer and might never be the answer, but they are worth a shot in the short to medium term as long as they do not distract from the need to lower the global production of climate change gases.”