Controversial 'robot trees' removed from Cork City centre
The so-called 'robot trees' installed in Cork City centre nearly four years ago to help clean pollutants from the air have been removed.
The five devices, which were erected in August 2021 as part of a local authority initiative to provide more greening of the city, were removed from their locations on St Patrick's Street and the Grand Parade early on Sunday morning.
The hexagonal platforms on which they stood remain in place.
The trees, which were created by a German biotech firm called Green City Solutions, had cost taxpayers around €350,000. Their cost was covered as part of a €4m funding allocation from the National Transport Authority (NTA) to Cork City Council.
Designed to filter the air and absorb the toxic pollutant called particulate matter from the air via moss filters, the trees came equipped with in-built sensors used to collate air quality data for analysis.
PM2.5, known as particulate matter, is all solid and liquid particles suspended in air, such as dust, pollen, soot, smoke, and liquid droplets. They also contained 40-inch TV screens used to disseminate information about air quality in Cork City.
In recent months, the trees had begun to show signs of wear and tear.
The council spokesperson said that the existing seating around where the trees stood "will remain and additional planting will be undertaken in both locations". File Picture: Larry Cummins
The devices have been a source of controversy since their installation.
The same month they were erected, Dean Venables, a researcher at the Centre for Research into Atmospheric Chemistry at University College Cork, labelled them 'a costly and ineffectual gimmick'.
In September 2023, UCC emeritus professor of chemistry, John Sodeau, also criticised the robot trees, saying they were waste of funds.
'If I had been asked about the city trees, I would have said 'don't bother'," he said at the time.
Prof Sodeau also said that, pending the outcome of a data analysis of the robot trees' effectiveness, he believed the planting of hedging along the street would have been more effective at removing particulates from the air, and it would be better to tackle the root cause of air pollution, rather than trying to clean the air.
"I have looked at these devices in other cities and couldn't see how they could do what they said on the tin, so to speak," he said.
In November 2023, Cork City council published a report on the data collected from the robot trees which summarised the findings of two studies on their effectiveness. The data was inconclusive.
Asked why exactly they were removed, a spokesperson for Cork City Council told the Irish Examiner: "The 'City Trees' on St Patrick's Street and Grand Parade are being removed this weekend".
The council spokesperson said that the existing seating around where the trees stood "will remain and additional planting will be undertaken in both locations".
"Cork City Council will be partnering with the UCC/MTU Joint Cork Centre for Architectural Education (CCAE) to explore a re-purposing of the structures," they added.
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Irish Examiner
14 hours ago
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How Cork City Council can move on from its robotrees fiasco
There has been a lot of misinformation and misconception thrown into the public domain recently regarding the 'death of the robotrees'. It's time to put the record straight. But where to begin? The very best way to get clean air in St Patrick's Street in Cork is to remove the sources of the pollutants. In other words, prevent all road transport driving along there. To start with, you need to ban all combustion engines… then later all vehicles, because tyre wear also releases the small particles that can kill us or put us into hospital. Cleaning up polluted air is, very much, a second-best strategy. My own way of thinking about this process is to imagine brewing a cup of tea. And then adding a drop of milk. Then trying to take all the milk out. Impossible. In other words, don't add the milk in the first place! Real trees, bedding plants, and 'CityTrees' on St Patrick's Street in Cork. Prof John Sodeau recommends none of the above as filters for toxic particles released by exhausts and tyres, saying chest-high hedging would be relatively effective — with the caveat that any level of particulates above zero can harm our health. Picture: Larry Cummins Air cleaning devices like the robo trees (also known as CityTrees or moss walls) were therefore unlikely to prove very effective in removing the small toxic particulates and nitrogen oxides released from road transport to the air. Starting in 2018, CityTrees were tested in Amsterdam. By 2019, they had been removed because they proved useless. Many other European cities had the same experience. There is even a Wikipedia page devoted to the history of CityTrees. Now we know the end result is just the same for Cork. The question is — why did Cork City Council undertake such an 'experiment' starting in 2021, given that the approach was not innovative or novel, and studies had already been published to show the devices were a total failure when located in the real world? Of course it's good and forward-thinking to try new things and experiment to improve our environment. But not if you know the approach is unoriginal and furthermore does not work. Whatever the council's initial motivations, there was absolutely no need to throw money down the drain over the last four years for running costs. Two of the City Trees, generally referred to as 'robotrees', on Grand Parade in Cork. They were intended to filter harmful pollutants out of the air. Picture: Larry Cummins The irony is that Cork houses the leading laboratory in air pollution chemistry in Ireland at UCC. Why did they not contact them — especially as the council apparatchiks involved in writing the National Transport Authority proposal had no appropriate scientific background in air science? If they had phoned me, then I think I could have come up with a better way of achieving their clean-up aims in a couple of hours. My answer would have been focussed on hedging the streets; not planting trees as has recently been suggested. That is because trees are not effective in removing small toxic particles and nitrogen oxides from road traffic emissions. Their main function in the urban environment is to remove the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, and to beautify the surroundings. Hedges could help Nature can still be the answer, but in the form of chest-high hedges. These act as a physical barrier to the small, toxic particles released by exhausts and tyres from reaching pedestrians. 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Controversial 'robot trees' removed from Cork City centre
The so-called 'robot trees' installed in Cork City centre nearly four years ago to help clean pollutants from the air have been removed. The five devices, which were erected in August 2021 as part of a local authority initiative to provide more greening of the city, were removed from their locations on St Patrick's Street and the Grand Parade early on Sunday morning. The hexagonal platforms on which they stood remain in place. The trees, which were created by a German biotech firm called Green City Solutions, had cost taxpayers around €350,000. Their cost was covered as part of a €4m funding allocation from the National Transport Authority (NTA) to Cork City Council. Designed to filter the air and absorb the toxic pollutant called particulate matter from the air via moss filters, the trees came equipped with in-built sensors used to collate air quality data for analysis. PM2.5, known as particulate matter, is all solid and liquid particles suspended in air, such as dust, pollen, soot, smoke, and liquid droplets. They also contained 40-inch TV screens used to disseminate information about air quality in Cork City. In recent months, the trees had begun to show signs of wear and tear. The council spokesperson said that the existing seating around where the trees stood "will remain and additional planting will be undertaken in both locations". File Picture: Larry Cummins The devices have been a source of controversy since their installation. The same month they were erected, Dean Venables, a researcher at the Centre for Research into Atmospheric Chemistry at University College Cork, labelled them 'a costly and ineffectual gimmick'. In September 2023, UCC emeritus professor of chemistry, John Sodeau, also criticised the robot trees, saying they were waste of funds. 'If I had been asked about the city trees, I would have said 'don't bother'," he said at the time. Prof Sodeau also said that, pending the outcome of a data analysis of the robot trees' effectiveness, he believed the planting of hedging along the street would have been more effective at removing particulates from the air, and it would be better to tackle the root cause of air pollution, rather than trying to clean the air. "I have looked at these devices in other cities and couldn't see how they could do what they said on the tin, so to speak," he said. In November 2023, Cork City council published a report on the data collected from the robot trees which summarised the findings of two studies on their effectiveness. The data was inconclusive. Asked why exactly they were removed, a spokesperson for Cork City Council told the Irish Examiner: "The 'City Trees' on St Patrick's Street and Grand Parade are being removed this weekend". The council spokesperson said that the existing seating around where the trees stood "will remain and additional planting will be undertaken in both locations". "Cork City Council will be partnering with the UCC/MTU Joint Cork Centre for Architectural Education (CCAE) to explore a re-purposing of the structures," they added. Read More Cork City designated special EU status to unlock major funding to achieve climate neutrality by 2030
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