We’ve been putting up with artificial lawn, plants, flavourings, colourings, you name it – we’ve tried to copy the genuine more times than we care to acknowledge. And while artificial trees aren’t the new-kid-on-the-block – you will most likely pull one down from the attic in the next month or so – there are new technologies associated with them.
Consider, for a second, every tree that you pass on your way to work each day. Hundreds of them. Possibly thousands. Now consider if every one of them, apart from their ability to store carbon deposits and purify our air, could also produce enough energy to power our cities. Wow…wouldn’t that be novel!
If most futurists were given their way, our streets would be lined with windmills, wind turbines and solar panels as far as the eye can see. If the sight of endless grey concrete depressed you then this image could possibly tip you over the edge.
Fortunately the likelihood of this scenario ever becoming a reality is being usurped by a new technology called Nanoleaves invented by Solar Botanic. The concept takes the fundamentals of harnessing energy from the wind and sun and efficiently utilising it from each leaf on each tree. In essence, these artificial trees become energy creators but with far more aesthetic appeal than a large rotor blade chopping through the air or rows of blinding solar panels.
Solar Botanic doesn’t offer too much detail in terms of when this product will hit the market so we will have to assume that it’s still some time away. Also, we’re not told the levels of energy that are able to be sourced so this technology is quite obviously in its infancy. But, we can dream…
If this technology ever does come to fruition, and I hope it does, we could see our office artificial trees become far more than a plant in the corner. They may even be the energy source for the entire building.