Obviously riding a bike is better than driving a car because, among other things, bikes don’t emit greenhouse gases or other poisons. But what if bikes could actually reverse pollution, by sucking in smog and pumping out clean air?
It’s theoretically possible, according to the group of Thai engineers and designers responsible for this concept bike.
The air-purifier bike currently exists only in concept, developed by Bangkok’s Lightfog Creative & Design Company. In theory, its aluminum frame would run on a “photosynthesis system” that generates oxygen through a reaction between water and electric power from a lithium-ion battery.
All they have so far is an (award-winning) mockup, no prototype, and there are still a lot of unanswered questions, says Co.Exist:
While the air purifier bike might exist comfortably as an idea, reality could challenge the ease of operating such a fleet. There would be the question of where to charge the batteries, for one, and where byproducts, (like sugar, perhaps), might go.
Still, it’s at least within the realm of possibility that your bike might someday make the environment actively better, instead of just making it less worse.