Seoul to Fight Air Pollution on the Roads

South Korea’s megacity will try to turn the roads into air purifiers by developing a coating of photocatalytic substances that would absorb and cleanse hazardous exhaust emitted by vehicles.(Image: Yonhap)

SEOUL, April 10 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s megacity will try to turn the roads into air purifiers by developing a coating of photocatalytic substances that would absorb and cleanse hazardous exhaust emitted by vehicles. 

Photocatalysis describes the process of absorption of light and the breaking down of various chemical substances that are harmful to humans. Chlorophyll found in plants is one example of a photocatalytic substance. 

Teaming up with firm BnDnetworks, Seoul intends to examine the effectiveness of photocatalytic roads until October, with plans to begin trials starting next year.

What will start this month is the city’s basic plan to ensure constructed layers of asphalt roads last 30 years. The plan prioritizes sustaining the wearing course (top layer) for up to 10 years and maintaining the life of the base course for 30 years.

With the basic plan, Seoul expects to be able to reduce the number of potholes and sinkholes from 50 to 80 percent in the next ten years.

Snapshots of Seoul’s skyline when fine dust levels were “good” (left) on April 4 and “very bad” (right) on April 6.

The country recently came under a spate of dangerously bad weather as eastward “yellow dust” from China caused domestic fine dust levels to skyrocket, leading to Seoul triggering a fine dust warning for the first time since the measure was created in 2015. In another first, the excessive fine dust caused the postponement of three baseball games, something never done before since the Korean baseball league’s inception in 1982.

Jamsil Baseball Stadium after a game was called off on April 6 due to excessive fine dust levels, a first in the KBO’s history. (Image: Yonhap)

Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)