Tech | November 02, 2009 | 18 comments

Toyota Develops New Flower Species To Reduce Pollution

Image
Tyrannous
Toyota has created two flower species that absorb nitrogen oxides and take heat out of the atmosphere. The flowers, derivatives of the cherry sage plant and the gardenia, were specially developed for the grounds of Toyota's Prius plant in Toyota City, Japan. The sage derivative's leaves have unique characteristics that absorb harmful gases, while the gardenia's leaves create water vapour in the air, reducing the surface temperature of the factory surrounds and, therefore, reducing the energy needed for cooling, in turn producing less carbon dioxide (CO2).

Link to the story: http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=66761&vf=1
  1. groups:
    Community,   Tech,   Green,   Current Tonight,   4 more
  2. tags:
    Tech,  Global Warming,  Japan,  Nature,  8 more
  3.     
    |

18 comments // Toyota Develops New Flower Species To Reduce Pollution

  • Fill_Fill
  • scoobyfanatic56
  • maisry
  • redvelvet1278
    • 0
      redvelvet1278  

    • now i dont want to be all like "duh" and stuff but pine trees and green algae have existed for like forever dude and we have managed to ignore that it ALREADY DOES THIS. no plant will make us better. we need to change.

    • 3 years ago
  • JulianCommongold
  • Ricky84
    • 0
      Ricky84  

    • I hope this thing is a GMO. The world need to shake off that ignorant fear of anything new and embrace or at the very least recognize scientific progress for what it is.

    • 3 years ago
  • Mitten
    • 0
      Mitten  

    • This is a step in the right direction! It doesn't say anywhere in the article that the plants were GM - they may have just been bred, like plants have been bred for centuries. Even so, if we could one day fix our pollution and climate change nightmare by being intelligent with plants, I think the debate about GM seems kind of insignificant, given that we're doing a pretty good job of destroying the earth's natural resources without it.

    • 3 years ago
  • StopThink
    • 0
      StopThink  

    • i wouldve loved to be the guy to invent that flower.... I have to give credit to Toyota for taking a step in the right direction...

    • 3 years ago
  • masterzip
  • Tyrannous
  • schellingjr
    • 0
      schellingjr  
    • masterzip:

      I am pretty sure they took that into consideration. Also, did you even bother to ask how many of the flower it takes to have an effect? you might find that some mythical "global chill" due to a flower like this isn't even possible unless you cover half the planet with it.

    • 3 years ago
  • redvelvet1278
    • 0
      redvelvet1278  
    • masterzip:

      schel- you are obviously not a scifi fan. and i agree that this would be something like combining the human good intentions of "Mimic" with the theory that it's just a plant in "the Ruins". but hey, i'm sure that mother nature will be fine with us yet again trying to take a shortcut through the unnatural

    • 3 years ago
  • redvelvet1278
    • 0
      redvelvet1278  

    • anyone remember the scifi movie "mimic"? i'm not saying that the flowers are going to grow into little shop of horrors style plants but... maybe a little caution?

    • 3 years ago
  • Tyrannous
  • Sam_Rodriguez
  • patriotaxe
    • 0
      patriotaxe  

    • This kind of thing would typically bother me, as I am quite opposed to GM seeds/crops, cloning, etc. But it's possible that Toyota has merely run a fast-clock on evolution, as nature might have eventually adapted to polluted atmospheres and global warming with plants that do just this in order to survive. Unfortunately, nature wouldn't have done this until long after the human species disappeared. I greet this news with cautious optimism.

    • 3 years ago
  • hell0everything
  • Tyrannous
more from Tech:
from the community

top videos