Although the government has been conducting an impressive campaign to make the air in China more breathable, the nation’s air quality is still far from ideal. You know things are bad when air purifiers are actually a competitive market, and you know things are REALLY bad when outdoor air filters are actually being developed. That’s exactly what a startup from Hong Kong has been working on, an outdoor air purifier which it claims can reduce air pollution by around 40% wherever it’s implemented.
China’s campaign to wipe out air pollution reduced the levels of dangerous particulate matter in the air by 11 percent last year, according to the Ministry of Environment. But the country still has a long way to go before the air its citizens breathe every day can be considered healthy. Only eight out of the 74 cities surveyed met basic national air quality standards. In the meantime, public awareness is rising. Pollution masks are hot commodities and startups making new models for indoor air purifiers are driving prices down. Now, a new invention currently being tested in Hong Kong claims it can reduce air pollution in an open outdoor space by an average of 40 percent (h/t to Techweb). The City Air Purification System, a research project from design and engineering firms Sino Green and ARUP, looks sort of like a small bus stop shelter, and that’s on purpose. Anyone standing near it, such as those waiting for a bus next to a busy street, can reap the benefits of cleansed air.