Dr. Ivan Spasojevic, Ph.D. in Biophysical sciences, and his team from the Institute for Multidisciplinary Research at the University of Belgrade, have developed an innovative tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality.
The liquid tree, known as LIQUID 3, is Serbia’s first urban photo-bioreactor, a solution in the fight for clean air. It contains six hundred litres of water and works by using micro-algae to bind carbon dioxide and produce pure oxygen through photosynthesis.
In conditions of cities with intense air pollution across the world, such as experienced in Belgrade, many trees cannot survive, while micro-algae do not have a problem with the great levels of pollution.
Both trees and grass perform photosynthesis and bind carbon dioxide. However, the advantage of micro-algae is that it is 10 to 50 times more efficient than trees. The micro-algae in a single LIQUID 3 replace the equivalent of two 10-year-old mature trees or 200 square meters of lawn.
The function of the LIQUID 3 imitates natural trees, however, the purpose behind LIQUID 3 is not to replace forests or tree planting. The purpose is to use the system to fill urban pockets where there is no or limited space for the planting of real trees.
