China erects ‘purifier tower’ to battle smog in Beijing

The seven-metre-tall tower, brainchild of Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde, is undergoing last-minute checks in Beijing’s 751 D Park art area.

China will deploy world’s largest outdoor air purifier designed by a Dutch engineer in its smog- hit capital Beijing, as the thick heavily-polluted haze returned to haunt the city, driving people indoors.

The seven-metre-tall tower, brainchild of Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde, is undergoing last-minute checks in Beijing’s 751 D Park art area. The “Smog Free Tower” will soon be opened to the public, and will be toured across the country, state-run Global Times said, quoting China Forum of Environmental Journalists, an NGO under China’s ministry of environmental protection.

The tower can capture about 75 per cent of PM 2.5 and PM 10 tiny particles in its vicinity and then release purified air to create a “bubble” of fresh air around it. The tower can clean 30,000 cubic metres of air per hour through its patented ozone-free ion technology.

Beijing has been plagued with heavy smog since the beginning of October. The average PM2.5 density of the small deadly polluted particles crossed over 300 today even though a cold front in the morning cleared the smog a bit. Liu Guozheng, CFEJ secretary-general said the tower is intended to warn authorities never to forget their duty and encourage the public to pull together to combat the smog. The public, meanwhile, are bemused by the tower’s function and have called on authorities to curb dangerous sources of polluting particles, the daily said. Netizens expressed their frustration over the tower. “The so-called divine smog cleaner is more like a piece of performance art, which makes almost zero difference to cleaner air in the city,” the daily quoted a comment by Sina Weibo user.