Toyota Develops New Flower Species To Reduce Pollution

teko_teko writes "Toyota has created two flower species that absorb nitrogen oxides and take heat out of the atmosphere. The flowers, derivatives of the cherry sage plant and the gardenia, were specially developed for the grounds of Toyota's Prius plant in Toyota City, Japan. The sage derivative's leaves have unique characteristics that absorb harmful gases, while the gardenia's leaves create water vapour in the air, reducing the surface temperature of the factory surrounds and, therefore, reducing the energy needed for cooling, in turn producing less carbon dioxide."

Comments

Plants eventually die

[Anonymous Coward]

That's great but it may be a surprise to some people to learn that cherry sages do eventually die, and decompose and thus re-release that which they have absorbed.

Carbon offset, one of the greatest scams in history. Pay us to plant some trees, which we can later cut down and sell.

Re:Plants eventually die

[Anonymous Coward]

Only in places experiencing significant subsidence (think of the Mississippi delta), where plant materials at the surface will eventually be deeply buried. The fraction of plant material that does ultimately get buried for the long term is minuscule compared to the amount that gets promptly recycled by decay processes, right back into the atmosphere. The chances the scenario you describe is happening at the site of a Toyota plant are small indeed unless it is built on a subsiding swamp.

The part I don't get is "while the gardenia's leaves create water vapour in the air" What? Don't ALL plants produce water vapour in the air?

Planting *any* plant would have the rather minor effects they describe. Getting rid of a lawn and allowing a genuine forest to grow might have a net positive effect, but only to a limited degree (as it grows). It's a fluff piece. The only thing innovative here is their public relations department.

Re:Plants eventually die

[Ginger Unicorn]

Wouldn't the nitrates in the soil act as a fertilizer for plants, as opposed to leaving it floating in the air for humans to breathe in?

Re:What?

[Yo_mama]

And if they release MORE water, does that mean they increase the dependency on reservoirs and the environmental impacts of dams and water shortages?

Re:Nothing can go wrong here!

[Sparr0]

Kudzu is trivial to get rid of. Just let a herd of goats loose. Not only do they eat kudzu, they PREFER it, and will eat it before almost any other human-desirable plants. There are companies that rent out goats specifically for this purpose.

If you think Kudzu is bad, read up on Cogon Grass.

Availability

[Sarten-X]

Ignoring naysayers for now, and assuming this plant is the benefit the article claims: What about me?
Does Toyota plan to release these plants for sale at my local garden store?
Can I get a nice slow-growing lawn that I don't have to mow?
Can I get some extra-cold flower gardens?

Re:FRAUD ALERT -- Slashdot sucked in again?

[jgardia]

Plants cannot metabolize nitrogen directly. You need some nitrogenated molecules to allow them to absorb the nitrogen. This job is typically done by bacterias in the soil. Why do you think you put nitrogen fertilizers to plants, if the atmosphere is > 70% nitrogen?

Re:What?

[TheRaven64]

Note that plant water doesn't need to be particularly clean, just desalinated. You can water plants with drain water in a lot of situations. Japan isn't a desert, the only water shortages that they are likely to have will come from overloaded processing and treatment plants, not from supply of rain.

Our New and Improved Toyota Prius

[Kreeben]

...with virtually no impact on environment!* * except for huge fields of Toyota Gardenia (TM), and who doesn't like gardenias?

Hypocritical bastards!

[fugue]

So they can claim to be "green" while still producing 4Runners and worse. Assholes.