Geo-engineering: or, how I learned to stop worrying and love the space mirror
It's amazing what engineers and scientists and other bright minds will come up with if they really have to. Often technology thrives when crisis erupts, wars have often been cited as pushers of technology and innovation.
Geo-Engineering against global warming is a very interesting feat of human kind and it does spruce up the mind and gives interesting and mind-blowing ideas. Here are some examples:
1. The Space Mirror! This is one of the most famous ones, of course. If you could just take a mirror big enough to reflect some of the sun's rays, we could get some global cooling! (Maybe a big white material instead of a mirror or a cloud-creating machine would do.)
2. Fertilise the ocean! Another one would be to fertilise the ocean by putting in some iron in a part of the sea that is lacking CO2-consuming planktons (and according to theory this lack of iron is the reason why the planktons don't exist) or how oceanographer John Martin said it with his Dr. Strangelove-accent: “Give me a half-tanker of iron, and I will give you an ice age.”
3. Storing CO2! Another would be to capture and store some CO2, this technology is currently being developed and implementation is currently on the way. Everyone's trying to become the first implementor.
These are just some of the ideas, but they can mostly be grouped into two categories: Keeping things out (e.g. sunlight) or hiding them where no one sees them (e.g. CO2 storing). One is a game with dice, the other a ticking time bomb. Feel free to choose which one is which.
One-time quick-fix vs. a sustainable growth solution
It does seem that we are looking for the easy way out - a one-time quick fix. If you had to choose a source of energy, what would be its characteristics? Available everywhere, de-centralised, no pollution at all, short investment payback time, you can use it for an indefinite amount of time, no harm to the environment? We have that! Solar energy! Wind power! Water! Of course the effects on the environment are debatable (especially wind power and water), but it's much less harming than coal or oil and it's less of a russian roulette than geo-engineering.
"I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that."
It sounds like the words of an environmentally-conscious venture capitalist from a few years ago. But in fact these are the words are from Thomas Edison in 1931!
Mr. Branson and the Climate
Even though many of these ideas might not be sustainable (or to say the least freakishly dangerous) they might offer a short-term quick solution until we get things in order. Even Virgin boss Richard Branson wants part of the action by offering the Earth Challenge Prize for 25 million USD to whoever finds a technology that reduces 1 billion tonnes of CO2 per year (to compare, in 2004 the US emitted about 5,8 billion tonnes, China's emissions were 4,7 billion tonnes). Even Leo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, George Clooney are putting their bit for the environment.
Planet B? I hope not
My only hope is that until we find the consciousness and technology to sustain a healthy life on earth we don't invent technology that can make life on another planet liveable. Why? Why would (probably the wealthiest) people living on Planet B care about earth? As long as we only have this one planet, we're all in this together. For better or for worse.
Further reading and references:
- Five ways to save the World (60 minute BBC documentary available on Google Video)
- How earth scale engineering can save the planet (Popular Science, 06/2005)
- US answer to global warming: smoke and giant space mirrors (Guardian, 01/2007)
- Current Thinking (New York Times article on Thomas Edison, free registration required)
