Heavy plants crossing...
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mat oaks may well from little acorns grow; but one day they may be genetically engineered to do much more,
Toyota, with
commendable care for the environment, is to surround a UK engine plant with trees. Not just to make the site look nice, but carefully selected CO2 absorbers to combat the greenhouse effect.
There is talk of breeding plants for just this job — so if any botanists out there want the challenge, here's the Hawk's shopping for "Plants He'd Like To See": A moss that will thrive on conditions inside a truck exhaust pipe while absorbing noise, hydrocarbons and particulates and giving off lots of healthy oxygen. While you're at it, how about a programmable perfume so every haulier could pick his favourite exhaust scent? Could be an intriguing new contest for Truckfest.
0 A fast-growing tree that can absorb energy well enough to act as a crash barrier (older readers may recall early experiments with rose bushes in the central reservation of motorways) while producing flourescent leaves to replace streetlights.
0 An oil-bearing plant like rape which does away with the need for expensive refineries in the quest for alternative fuels by secreting the sort of alcohol that diesels are thriving on down South America way. Oh yes, and lets have a symbiotic tuber that fills up with this fuel and sits at the side of the road ready to be emptied into HGV tanks.
No doubt all this and much more will be with us much sooner than we expect.
by the Hawk