High-tech Super Tree Combats Air Pollution in Surquillo

The Urban Air Cleaner UAC-20, a.k.a. “Super Tree,” is busy sucking up fumes in lovely downtown Surquillo

What is it with Surquillo, lately?

The working-class Lima district is making headlines for advocating innovative, sometimes radical solutions to urban problems. 

First Surquillo’s mayor Gustavo Sierra raised eyebrows around the world when he suggested that Peru solve its drug problem by legalizing illicit drugs and handling them through the national health ministry. (Sierra later claimed that he was misquoted and that he does not want to legalize drugs, but, rather, he wants the Peruvian government to fund programs to treat drug addicts. Read his refutation in Spanish here.)

Now Surquillo is tackling the less-controversial problem of air pollution by installing a state-of-the-art air purifier nicknamed the “Super Tree,” which can absorb as much CO2 in one day as do 1,200 trees, according to the machine’s manufacturer. 

Evidently, the city is taking its motto “Surquillo Esta Cambiando…Cambia Tú Tambien” (Surquillo Is Changing…You’re Changing, Too) very seriously.

Israel Ruiz of Living in Peru reports:

In an effort to reduce air pollution in some of Peru’s most contaminated cities, Tierra Nuestra SAChas installed its first air purifier on the corner of Angamos and Aviacion Avenues in the Limean district of Surquillo.

The company explained that the air purifier can absorb as much carbon dioxide as 1,200 trees and at the same time rid 200,000 square meters of air of dust and harmful bacteria every day.

Tierra Nuestra explained that the machine could also filter up to 25 percent of the sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emitted by vehicles.

The machine, which costs $100,000, uses water to filter the air it absorbs and costs $6.50 a day to operate.

Tierra Nuestra stated that at the end of each day the dirty water could be disposed of in sewage pipes.

The mayor of Surquillo stated the district had not invested one cent in the machine but that everything had been financed by Tierra Nuestra and their sponsors.

It is estimated that 400 of these machines are needed throughout Lima. Tierra Nuestra hopes to set up 100 by the end of the year.

As readers have commented on Living in Peru, it is troubling that the city of Lima has no plans to fund the installation of the Urban Air Cleaners and appears to be relying on private investors to bankroll the project. 

Traffic in Lima (photo from Karina Bu)

If there is any city that needs to detoxify its air supply, it’s Lima.  Air contamination levels in the city are nearly nine times higher than standards set by the World Health Organization, and a series of studies on the issue have failed to spur any action.

If the Super Trees really are effective at purifying the air, Lima (and not just Surquillo) should fund this and other efforts ASAP.  

Another important change that needs to take place is reducing emissions by cars, trucks and combis. The latter contribute heavily to Lima’s air pollution problem, as Pervian Times noted last August:

Air pollution in Lima, which is primarily due to the high number of old motorized vehicles and the oversupply of public transport vehicles, has been exacerbated over the past decade by a series of policies and measures that were adopted without due consideration for their impact on the environment or, specifically, air pollution and air quality. Attempts by various governmental agencies, such as the Ombudsman’s Office, and the Municipality of Lima, have been both insufficient and ineffective mainly because they have been isolated and palliative efforts.In her most recent report Merino urged the Municipality of Lima to enforce its Comprehensive Urban Transportation Plan to remove approximately 17,000 old heavily polluting diesel buses to “solve the oversupply of public transport that produces enormous quantities of contaminating gases.”

 Solutions are available. Now it’s time to act.