Glowing Trees: The Eco-Alternative of Street Lights - - Unbelievable Research Wotk in Taiwan

Trees doing the job of streetlights? Seems unbelievable, doesn’t it? Well soon it is going to be a reality as researchers in Taiwan have come up with an idea that will enable trees to glow and hence act as street lights. So this is how it works. One puts gold nanoparticles on the leaves, which in turn will make the leaves reflect a reddish glow, and hence the roads get lighted, without the need for electric street lamps.

The gold nano-particles are put on the leaves of Bacopa caroliniana, and the chlorophyll present inside reacts to produce the red glow. Seems like those glowing trees from Avatar! This idea actually came up due to an accident when the scientists were trying to create LED like lighting without using the toxic and expensive phosphor. I don’t need to tell you how great this idea is.

It reduces carbon emissions, cuts electricity bills and reduces light pollution as well, without sacrificing the utility of streetlights. The luminescence also causes the chloroplast of the leaves to photosynthesize, which in turn allows more carbon to be captured from the air while the streets are lit. I think it is a great idea and should be put into common use.