In my previous post, I explored how birds can be an unconventional solution to tackle climate change. In this post, I explore another innovative, out-of-the-box method: giant vacuum cleaners to suck air pollutants!

This idea was believed to have been founded by Dutch inventors. When Daan Roosegaarde visited Beijing in 2013, he was perplexed and appalled by the thick and greyish smoke veil that unveiled the city. Determined to do something about the very visible problem, he worked with his team to embark on a Smog Free Project to develop the world’s first giant outdoor vacuum cleaner.

“True beauty is not a fashionable bag or a Ferrari, but clean air and clean energy.” – Daan Roosegaarde. 

The aim of the project is to utilize urban innovations as a localized solution for clean air in public spaces. Known as the Smog Free Tower, the vacuum cleaner (Fig 1) stands 7 meters tall and runs only on 1170 watts of green electricity via wind energy. The tower uses patented positive ionization technology to suck the polluted air and smog into the system before cleaning it and releasing fresh air out. 

Fig 1: Giant Smog Free Tower by Daan Roosegaarde (Source: Studio Roosegaarde)

The results have been fairly successful thus far – up to a 75% increase in clean air volume was recorded in areas where the tower has been implemented. Furthermore, the entire system only requires more or less the same amount of energy consumed by an electric boiler, making it more efficient than traditional air cleaning devices. The Smog Free tower has since been successfully implemented in South Korea, China, the Netherlands and Poland.

Another similar technology was invented by Envinity Group in 2016. According to the company, the purifier (Fig 2) is able to suck in air from a 300m radius and up to 7km (4.3 miles) from atop buildings. The tech start-up also claims that the industrial filter can filter out 100% of fine particles and 95% of ultra-fine particles.

Fig 2: The large industrial filter is eight metres long and cleans about 800,000 cubic meters of air an hour (Source: BBC, 2016)

These vacuum cleaners are basically placed on top of infrastructures where they can get direct access to the atmosphere and supply clean air to the people. 

However, there are mixed opinions regarding the effectiveness and feasibility of such devices. Although a pollution vacuum might work in places like South Korea and Poland, researchers in India believe that it will not work in their country. In a 2020 study published in Atmosphere, Guttikunda and Jawahar found that a smog tower will not make New Delhi’s air any cleaner. This is due to the fact that in the open, every puff of air produced is replaced by another almost immediately. Given the fact that Delhi’s vehicular and industrial emissions make the city one of the most polluted places globally, it renders the work of a (single) vacuum cleaner redundant. 

Purchasing one smog tower for INR 30 crores (USD$3,626,319) is equivalent to at least 15 continuous ambient air monitoring stations capable of measuring and relaying air pollution information in real-time. The extremely high installation and maintenance cost is unable to justify the use of such smog towers in India; a country not considered affluent on a global scale. 

The future of innovations remains uncertain but riddled with possibilities following the continued advancement of technology and knowledge. However, what remains certain is that the environmental pollution issue will become a much larger concern in the years to come – a responsibility and burden that falls mainly on the subsequent generations.

 

Bibliography

BBC. (2016, October 26). Giant air cleaner unveiled in Amsterdam by Envinity Group. Retrieved from BBC News: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37773746

Dutta, A., & Jinsart, W. (2022). Air pollution in Delhi, India: It’s status and association with respiratory diseases. PLOS, 17(9): e0274444.

Guttikunda, S. (2021, September 12). Will The Smog Tower Help Delhi’s Air Get Cleaner? Here’s What An Engineer Says. Retrieved from Outlook India: https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/opinion-will-the-smog-tower-help-delhis-air-get-cleaner-heres-what-an-engineer-says/394328

Guttikunda, S., & Jawahar, P. (2020). Can We Vacuum Our Air Pollution Problem Using Smog Towers? Atmosphere, 11(9): 922.

I’mnovation Hub. (2017). A giant vacuum could be cleaning polluted air soon. Retrieved from Im’novation Hub: https://www.imnovation-hub.com/energy/giant-vacuum-could-be-cleaning-polluted-air/?_adin=02021864894

Studio Roosegaarde. (2016). Smog Free Tower. Retrieved from Studio Roosegaarde: https://www.studioroosegaarde.net/project/smog-free-tower