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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

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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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[–] stabby_cicada 28 points 1 year ago (11 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.

[–] gmoke@mastodon.social 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

@stabby_cicada @MonkCanatella Lots of ideas for both algae and traditional trees in Bioshelters, Ocean Arks, City Farming: Ecology as the Basis of Design by Nancy and John Todd, both of whom are still around.

Years of links to urban and advanced agriculture at http://cityag.blogspot.com
which is also a listserv

[–] MonkCanatella@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Good looking out with city ag. Adding to my RSS reader, thanks!_Going to have to check out that book sometime, just from the title alone it sounds right up my alley

[–] gmoke@mastodon.social 1 points 1 year ago

@MonkCanatella
Review of A Safe and Sustainable World: The Promise of Ecological Design by Nancy Jack Todd
https://solarray.blogspot.com/2005/05/gaian-design-of-ecological-alchemy.html

Review of Healing Earth: An Ecologist’s Journey of Innovation and Environmental Stewardship by John Todd
https://solarray.blogspot.com/2019/03/healing-earth-through-waters.html

Other resources on geotherapy (not geoengineering please) at
http://solarray.blogspot.com/2021/04/geotherapy-not-geoengineering-please.html

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