Toyota Motor Corporation Creates... a Shrub?!
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 10. 8.05
No, "Shrub" is not the code name of a new hybrid or fuel cell car. Toyota has actually engineered a shrub called Kirsch Pink (a derivative of the Cherry Sage shrub) with some very interesting characteristics: "The new Kirsch Pink plant is reportedly 1.3 times more effective at absorbing NOx, SO2 and other air pollutants than its parent stock. [It] also diminishes the urban heat-island effect 1.3 times more effectively than the Cherry Sage". Toyota is targeting 10,000 sales at 380 yen (US$3.34) a piece during the first year. The main usage of the shrub is green roofs; "Toyota originally launched the Rooftop Garden business as a way to mitigate the heat-island phenomenon that is worsening with time in Japanese cities." ::Toyota creates air-purifying shrub, via ::Jalopnik, ::Green Car Congress
I have my doubts about genetic engineering, but this is one of those products that certainly weighs in on the plus side. When the day comes that I can build a home with a green roof, I'll definitely be looking for some of these. Or much sooner,at that.
I wonder if other major manufacturers will follow suit.
Actually, it is not entirely clear to me if the new plant is a GMO or was produced with conventional breeding.
I'll look to see if that info is available.
Thanks, I'd appreciate that. If it's conventional breeding, that'd leave me with nothing but warm fuzzies for them.
Personally, I don't care much about GMO, but it would bug me if it's GMO if they're going to ruthlessly patent it...
This is not impressing at all - what if this genetically altered plant has some unknown drawback or negative impact we first see in the future? Will we eventually have to plaster the entire surface of the planet, with pollution eating plants?
Anyway, Toyota made electric cars some years ago, also many of the other car manufacturers did, until Bush stopped the environmental laws in California, that demanded some percentage of pollution free vehicles.
In fact, most persons commutes a much shorter distance to their work, than an EV can go on one charge of its batteries, and the latest type batteries would give an EV a range of 500km on ONE charge. Yes, the batteries are expensive, but EVs generally has less maintenance costs than traditional vehicles and usually are much cheaper to "fill up".
This of course means less income for the oil and car industry!
That's probably why Toyota, and the others decided to scrap their EVs as soon as their lobbyists got the environmental laws changed in California. Pressure from environmentalists resulted in the saving of a few of the cars, though: www.dontcrush.com
Probably, the ever rising oil price + the fact that the world is in urgent need for better batteries for laptops, PDAs, mobile phones + power tools etc, will make the EV win terrain in the coming years. Even with NiCd batteries, an EV can
perform ok. Here are some pictures of my 29kW/35hp Think City on Tron mountain in Norway, at 1666m altitude: http://tinyurl.com/az7qy
Yes one more thing about the Prius and the other hybrid cars: Nice thought - you get a bigger and stronger car, with a less fuel consumption, that's good. (for some people perhaps).
However hybrid cars are extremely complex, which eventually will jack up the maintenace bill, since they contain both an electric and a gasoline car system.
I am in general agreement with Mr. Henden. This is a step in the wrong direction. Mass producing combustion engines and processing oil for petroleum products was a mistake and the environment is suffering from this mistake. Genetic engineering is another unnatural mistake that humans are bringing about, it is not the way to fix mistakes made in the past. The fact that the outcome has immediate positive effects but no-one knows what crazy consequences could come about with genetically modified organics.