Planting trees around landscapes near factories and other pollution sources, is found to cut down air pollution by 27 per cent, a more viable and cheaper option than using technology.
The study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, highlighted that it is the plants and not technologies for cleaning the air near a number of industrial sites, roadways, power plants, commercial boilers and oil and gas drilling sites, that too in cheaper ways.
In fact, researchers found that in 75 per cent of the counties analyzed, it was cheaper to use plants to mitigate air pollution than it was to add technological interventions – things like smokestack scrubbers – to the sources of pollution.
“The fact is that traditionally, especially as engineers, we don’t think about nature; we just focus on putting technology into everything,” said lead author Bhavik Bakshi, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at The Ohio State University.
“And so, one key finding is that we need to start looking at nature and learning from it and respecting it. There are win-win opportunities if we do – opportunities that are potentially cheaper and better environmentally,” added Bakshi.
The analysis found that for one specific sector – industrial boilers – technology is cheaper at cleaning the air than ecosystem upgrades. And for the manufacturing industry – a broad sector – both ecosystems and technology could offer cost savings, depending on the type of factory. To start understanding the effect that trees and other plants could have on air pollution, the researchers collected public data on air pollution and vegetation on a county-by-county basis across the lower 48 states.
Their calculations included the capacity of current vegetation – including trees, grasslands and shrublands – to mitigate air pollution. (ANI)
