First MechanicalTree™ to be unveiled at ASU’s Tempe campus This passive carbon collection technology developed by Klaus Lackner could spawn thousands of CO2-capturing tree farms across the globe.
Carbon levels in the atmosphere are at an all-time high, and many climate scientists predict a grim future for the planet. To successfully reach the 1.5° C target outlined in the Paris Agreement, global emissions need to fall by 45% from 2010 levels by 2030 and reach net zero around 2050. Considering the path we are on now, experts are expressing concern that it’s likely too late to halt or even slow the effects of global warming. In response to this, researchers at the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory are synthesizing ideas and developing technology that will not only slow carbon emissions, but reverse them. Imagine a single tree that does the work of 1,000 trees in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Klaus Lackner, director of the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions (CNCE) and global futures scientist at the laboratory, made this a reality with his MechanicalTree. The MechanicalTree has leaves just like a regular tree, in that they bind CO2 to their surface. But these “leaves” come in the form of large disks stacked in a column that stands at around 30 feet in height. The column contains 150 of these disks, which become loaded with CO2 as wind passes
