this post was submitted on 04 May 2025
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Science Memes

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[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 41 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Real answer is probably that they'd be used in addition to trees, designed to fit in places unsuitable for a tree.

[–] DasFaultier@sh.itjust.works 26 points 1 day ago

This. Trees (especially large ones) are a pain to irrigate properly, might not be drought-resistant, grow very slowly until they reach their full potential at removing CO2, interfere with infrastructure that we humans are used to (piping, electricity, telco), roots break up pavements, branches can be a hazard after storms, fruit might attract rats, ...

I'm very much pro trees (despite what I've listed in the first paragraph), but I'm sure there are places in cities where you can't plant trees but could put up algae tanks.

If you understand German (specifically Austrian dialect) you might like this podcast episode about challenges and methods to overcome them in the context of greenery in the city of Graz:

Simple Smart Buildings: Bäume in der Stadt

Webseite der Episode: https://podcasted3e6b.podigee.io/153-baume-in-der-stadt

Mediendatei: https://audio.podigee-cdn.net/1742586-m-9ecab280e580cd07f75c83ed9379b970.mp3?source=feed

TL;DL of this episode: it's not as simple as "just plant more trees".

[–] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 day ago

Yes. Algae is better in absorbing co2 than tree, but tree is important as a shade and creating a cooling effect for the surrounding. Both is important for different thing and combine it you get the best of both world, especially in a lot of urban area where planting big tree isn't possible

Like walls of high-rises.