Reaction: Robot trees divide Cork commentariat

Although the name inspires more futuristic images like the ones below: 

The actual robot trees look like this: 

CityTrees are large structures covered in mosses designed to filter harmful pollutants such as fine dust particles and nitrogen oxides (NOx) from the air.

The moss acts as a filter to ‘trap’ and ‘eat’ fine dust, making it a sustainable and regenerative fine dust filter.

Scientific studies by the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research have shown that these 'moss mats' clean about 80% of fine dust from the air.

The CityTrees also have in-built sensors to collate air quality data for analysis and 40-inch TV screens to share information about air quality in the city. They also feature a built-in chair to act as street furniture.

Cork City Council said that they form one part of its strategy to tackle pollution, which also includes the planting of 1,300 trees this year.

Like everything these days, social media users were quick to offer their own takes and reaction to their installation has been mixed, to say the least, and ranged from the humorous: 

To the downright outraged: 

And so advanced is this new technology it appears to have attained sentience: 

However, their installation has sparked an important conversation online about the urban environment, conservation, and carbon emissions. 

Plant 'actual' trees

Most people questioned the reasoning behind the decision to install the robot trees and asked why real trees were not used instead. 

While others focused on the visual impact of the new trees and the costs to maintain them. 

Academic debate takes root

The city's scientists also made their own contributions. 

University College Cork's Dr Eoin Lettice, a lecturer in plant science, said the council should have focused more on reducing traffic congestion rather than installing the city trees. 

A point that UCC air quality and atmospheric scientist Dr Dean Venables made when the robot trees were first announced.

For a real look at what the robot trees are able to contribute towards air quality, UCC's John Wenger, an environmental chemist, has published this detailed thread. 

Hot air

The huge public interest and response to the new fixtures on Grand Parade and St Patrick's Street prompted local politicians to share their reactions to new robot trees. 

Solidarity / People Before Profit Councillor Fiona Ryan was the most scathing in her assessment of the new investment and focused on other expenditure options. 

But Green Party Councillor, Dan Boyle, has said in defence of the decision that the robot trees were not a substitute for real trees but instead are meant to have an air quality monitoring role. 

Meanwhile, An Rabharta Glas-Green Left Councillor, Lorna Bogue said the response to the robot trees shows "the appetite in Cork City for large-scale urban planting" of trees. 

Fall Out Boy and public engagement

Of course, any spending like this on any new projects attracts many responses from different groups questioning the priorities of their local government and the effectiveness of their decisions. 

Irish cities are undergoing great changes as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic especially with reduced traffic volumes and wider pedestrianisation. 

And many people ask just how deep-rooted these changes actually are. 

It's fitting the installation of the city trees came on the same day the UN published a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the grave severity of the climate crisis. 

Around the world, temperatures might not be "goin' down, down in an earlier round" but if interest like this continues then "sugar, we're goin' down swinging".

There's that Fall Out Boy album reference you were looking for - although these may not have been exactly what the band was thinking of when they called their album From Under the Cork Tree.