Natural trees fight global warming through the process of photosynthesis by absorbing and storing carbon dioxide. A manufactured “synthetic tree” probably doesn’t sound like the answer to  preventing climate change, but we’re not talking about your fake Christmas tree or the faux Ficus you bought years ago.

Klaus Lackner, a professor at Columbia University, is developing a prototype for a synthetic tree that catches carbon just like a real tree. Only difference? This one is better: It’s about 1,000 times faster than the real thing. Lackner’s concept doesn’t look as pretty as a tree (see above), but it can capture carbon anytime, anywhere and once it’s trapped inside the chamber, it gets compressed and stored as liquid carbon dioxide. Later, Lackner says that liquid could be used to create fuel for cars or jets or even to enhance vegetable production.

One unit could remove about a ton of CO2 each day which is equivalent to the amount produced by 20 average vehicles. The synthetic tree is still only a concept, but they could be a good solution for the future.

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