Sitting in Beijing, China’s capitol, and arguably one of the most polluted cities in the world, is an artfully constructed tower that was made to address the city’s legendary smog problem. The city recently had to issue its first red alert for the quality of its air, but it turns out the odd tower might actually be working.

Though some claimed that the pagoda-like tower was simply no match for Beijing’s horribly polluted air, and many doubted the 7-meter high structure being billed as the largest outdoor air purifier could actually clean anything, recent reports from China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection stated that the air around the tower is in fact 55 percent cleaner than it was before.

According to Studio Roosegaarde, the tower has snatched billions of PM2.5 fine particles of ‘yuck’ right out of the air. That’s equal to the volume of 10 Beijing National Stadiums.

It seems, at least in its preliminary air purification attempts, the Dutch-imagined tower is only purifying the air in its immediate area, but even if this were true, its relatively small size means that these air purifiers could be erected throughout China.

The country also has plans to shut down over 1,000 coal mines this year in order to improve air quality. This is just the beginning of deeper cuts against coal, and a massive move toward solar energy.

Innovation, and a move toward cleaner energy will clean our air, everywhere.a

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