China builds ‘world’s biggest air purifier’ and it seems to be working

So... to drop the PM2.5 amount by 15%, this tower must be removing many many tons of particulate matter every day. How is it removed from the filters they speak of? How expensive is that to do? I have some questions about the practicality.<p>On the other hand, I wonder if anyone&#x27;s ever built a 100m placebo before. It could be a <i>really</i> interesting university study on the placebo effect in disguise.

Please refrain from using AMP links. We need to take a stance against Googles abuse of monopoly.

More readable non-mobile link: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.scmp.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;china&#x2F;society&#x2F;article&#x2F;2128355&#x2F;china-builds-worlds-biggest-air-purifier-and-it-seems-be-working" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.scmp.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;china&#x2F;society&#x2F;article&#x2F;2128355&#x2F;china...</a>

I wish there was more than anecdotal evidence for this. China has very strong statistics for their pollution levels that are often recorded in their weather reports.<p>For a project this big, they should be able to quantify the results instead of just relying on what people say about the air :&#x2F;<p>EDIT: I&#x27;m a dummy, although the article leaves with an anecdotal, there are some nuggets of stats &quot;The average reduction in PM2.5 – the fine particles in smog deemed most harmful to health – fell 15 per cent during heavy pollution.&quot; &amp; &quot;Cao said the results were preliminary because the experiment is still ongoing. The team plans to release more detailed data in March with a full scientific assessment of the facility’s overall performance.&quot;

I really like how simple this solution is. Just using the sun to heat up air and have it go up through a bunch of filters, no moving parts. It strikes me as the right way to go about it. I wonder if you could use the greenhouses for growing plants, and the rising air to run small turbines..

Such a mainland solution... The air&#x27;s dirty, install an air filter. There&#x27;s lots of air and it&#x27;s really dirty? Build a bigger air filter!<p>...especially if my uncle manufactures air filter membranes and needs to get rid of some extra inventory

Side node: is China doing ok in terms of innovation? If yes, how come in such a regime? I would expect everything to be stuck in bureaucracy.

Seems like a reasonable way to pump air through a filter. It will be interesting to see long term effects and maintenance costs (eventually the filters need to be replaced as efficiency would go down with increased air resistance in the tower).<p>This FastCompany article from 2013 (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.fastcompany.com&#x2F;2682151&#x2F;5-imaginative-buildings-that-breathe-pollution-and-clean-the-air" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.fastcompany.com&#x2F;2682151&#x2F;5-imaginative-buildings-...</a>) had some additional concepts that could be added.

&gt;Xian can experience heavy pollution in winter, with much of the city’s heating relying on coal.<p>Have they tried to filter directly the air at the source of pollution? For instance, placing filters on the coal heating facilities. It should be more efficient, as you wouldn&#x27;t release as many particles in the air in the first place.

Edit: as pointed bellow it&#x27;s using filters. Sorry didn&#x27;t see that<p>If I understand correctly this &quot;air purifier&quot; is just shooting polluted air up, bringing cleaner air from above.<p>That sounds like a very short term solution, but it&#x27;s interesting

I couldn’t help but think of the book “The Water Knife”. In the book it is the the Chinese that build massive liveable spaces that recycle the water and purify the air. Just a small step in that direction.

I don&#x27;t see Humanity becoming less destructive on the environment, so this represents our future. It would be nice if an outside source could verify its effectiveness

Has it not been completely built? The article features a few pictures of it under construction and then an artist&#x27;s impression of how it would look.

This may sound like a naive question, but how does this compare to say, trees?

I wish there was some technical background of what such a &quot;purification tower&quot; does. If they found a genuinely innovative way of purifying air and dumping the toxins and by products sensibly, that is mazing for all of us kudos to them! However, if they tried to push the problem away by shooting polluted air away and sucking in fresher air, then it sucks.

Maybe also an attempt to test solar updraft power generation ?