this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2023
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The "Liquid Tree" is Very Cool Actually (youtu.be)
submitted 1 year ago by MonkCanatella@sh.itjust.works to c/solarpunk@slrpnk.net
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Scientists in Belgrade came up with the idea of "planting" large tanks of water and algae in places where trees can't grow. The tanks are 10-50x more efficient than a normal tree for the space it takes up and is in general highly sustainable, even creating excellent fertilizer in the process. You can skip about halfway through the video for the actual information about them.

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[โ€“] stabby_cicada@slrpnk.net 29 points 1 year ago (10 children)

Step back a little. Why are there places in cities where trees "can't grow"? What's the problem - water, land, sunlight? And why not fix whatever is keeping trees from growing, and then grow trees, instead of dropping in a tub of algae? And if these tanks are 50 times more "efficient" than a normal tree, how much more expensive is manufacturing and maintaining them than planting and watering a tree is?

This feels like carbon capture technology to me - a technological patch on a social and ecological problem, meant not to help the environment but to funnel tax money to venture capitalists and tech companies in the name of environmentalism.

[โ€“] Squids@sopuli.xyz 7 points 1 year ago

And why not fix whatever is keeping trees from growing, and then grow trees

I woild guess because that would require you to completely tear up the bitumen and anything underneath it like pipes and wires in order to make room for the roots. Trees are pretty big things y'know and it's not just what's above the surface that matters. You could put a tank like this in say, a train station platform that's raised well above the ground or on a building

Also a tub of algae isn't going to become a health hazard if it gets sick or infested and won't take decades to establish itself

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