Articles
Rethinking urban horticulture: perspectives from applied biotechnology and environmental engineering
Article number
1429_1
Pages
1 – 12
Language
English
Abstract
The innate capacity for plants to remove most air pollutants is now widely known.
However, plant systems suffer from one major disadvantage: the rate of pollutant removal per unit of plant tissue is small, necessitating large quantities of growing plants to have a valuable impact on urban environmental quality.
In recent years, research has focussed on identifying and enhancing the characteristics of botanical ‘systems’ to maximize their pollutant removal capacities.
Whilst this research has had considerable success, with several notable infrastructure-scale projects, there are still barriers to overcome before plants become the method of choice for maintaining our future city’s air quality, notably convincing both developers and legislators of the economic value of plant-based solutions.
However, plant systems suffer from one major disadvantage: the rate of pollutant removal per unit of plant tissue is small, necessitating large quantities of growing plants to have a valuable impact on urban environmental quality.
In recent years, research has focussed on identifying and enhancing the characteristics of botanical ‘systems’ to maximize their pollutant removal capacities.
Whilst this research has had considerable success, with several notable infrastructure-scale projects, there are still barriers to overcome before plants become the method of choice for maintaining our future city’s air quality, notably convincing both developers and legislators of the economic value of plant-based solutions.
Authors
F.R. Torpy, S. Matheson, G. Duani, L. Lyu, R. Fares, P.J. Irga
Keywords
phytoremediation, indoor air quality, ecosystem services, botanical biofiltration, active green walls, sustainable infrastructure, green buildings
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