These comments offer very little in constructive thought. I thought the title is a little misleading as far as the viability of geo-engineering. The even propostion of these ideas postpones action possible until too late. As well, it detracts from concentrating on an economic transition to ecologically sound consumption. CO2's greenhouse effects are scientically documented. To deny the possibility of human-caused climate change is to deny our own scientific and technological basis of culture. This crisis will absolve the ignorance and prejudice within modern society to reveal inherent opportunities of Man's station. "The Earth is but one country and mankind its citizens' as a great man once said and I believe that.
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The ‘Geo-Engineering’ Scenario
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Geo-engineering cannot replace emissions reductions. The less CO2 you have to balance with sulfates, the more effective geo-engineering would be. But reducing CO2 emissions by, say, substituting solar and nuclear for coal will only delay climate change. Any net emissions will eventually tip the atmosphere into dangerous territory. If the world wants a techno-fix for climate change, it must develop ways to capture CO2 from the air and seas.
Researchers are trying, but they have less financial support than producers of corn-based ethanol (which does next to nothing to help climate change). Still, one company is developing a system in which plastic mesh sheets blowing in the wind capture CO2 from the air. When saturated with CO2, the sheets are doused with sodium carbonate, yielding harmless baking soda, after which they can be reused. Another approach would remove hydrochloric acid from seawater, which would make oceans less acidic and thus able to absorb more CO2. About 100 treatment plants could reduce the CO2 entering the atmosphere by 15 percent, scientists report in the journal Environmental Science & Technology; 700 could offset all CO2 emissions.
Neither method is ready to go. Without more funding, they never will be, though Richard Branson's $25 million prize for carbon capture is an incentive. If we don't want to resort to the climate solution of last resort, it's time to stop pretending that changing light bulbs and driving hybrids will be enough to prevent dangerous climate change.
© 2007
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