‘Robot trees’ installed in Cork city centre to improve air quality

Controversial new “robot trees” installed in Cork city centre promise to absorb 80 per cent of fine dust particles from the air.

Five high-tech CityTrees, costing €350,000 a year to maintain, are being installed at St Patrick’s Street and on the Grand Parade near the City Library.

The trees are covered in special mosses that trap harmful pollutants and clear them from the atmosphere.

The moss acts as a filter to “trap” and “eat” fine dust, making it a sustainable and regenerative fine dust filter.

The 1st of our CityTrees were installed today on St Patricks St.

CityTrees help combat fine dust particle pollution &other pollution associated with traffic congestion.

Air pollution causes up to 1,300 deaths each yr, says @EPAIreland

👩‍💻Check out https://t.co/b4H0SfyTJP pic.twitter.com/F5E0kBJabq

— Cork City Council #StaySafe (@corkcitycouncil) August 9, 2021

David Joyce, operations director at Cork City Council, said the CityTrees “are not there to replace a tree. A tree takes in carbon dioxide and releases oxygen”.

He told The Irish Examiner: “These CityTrees take in particulate matter – dust – from diesel engines, from burning fossil fuels, and it captures that dust and eats the dust so it takes 80 per cent of that dust out of the air.

“And they’re multi-purpose, they provide high-quality seating and 40-inch TV screens which will be used to disseminate information about air quality in Cork City.”

Atmospheric scientist Dean Venables said that the devices are “a costly and ineffectual gimmick” and will have no meaningful impact on the city’s air quality.

Dr Venables, a researcher at the Centre for Research into Atmospheric Chemistry at University College Cork, told The Examiner that Ireland's core strategy has to be about reducing emissions, not just clawing back some of the pollution after the fact.

He said that although the CityTrees may clean the air in the immediate vicinity of the structures, they would have no discernible impact on overall air quality in the city.