This is the “largest smog vacuum cleaner in the world.”
A “Smog-Free Tower” that allows air pollution to be converted into jewelry has begun operating in Beijing.
The tower is the work of Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde, Bloomberg reports. He talks about the project in the video below.
Roosegaarde calls the tower the “largest smog vacuum cleaner in the world.” It cleans the air via positive ionization.
He notes that 42 percent of the smog in Beijing consists of carbon. Bloomberg explains that Roosengaarde “has struck on a novel innovation: using high pressure to convert the residue to diamonds, which can be sold as jewelry.”
Of course, you only get diamonds if the pressure if high enough. Many people are happy to buy the carbon in a cheaper form.
The New York Times recently explained: “The carbon particles extracted from the air will be compressed and sealed in acrylic in the form of rings, cuff links and cubes, and then sold.”
He’s now selling “Smog Free Rings,” each of which he says represents 1,000 cubic meters of clean air, on Kickstarter for 250 euros (US $275) plus shipping. The proceeds will go back into the tower project.
Two years ago the New York Times noted that a limited-edition version of the rings, with a diamond head created through high-pressure processes, was planned.
The tower is 23 feet tall, and Bloomberg reports that “Roosegaarde expects to add hundreds more around the world’s most populous nation.”
Read more at Bloomberg.