To fight global warming we will soon have to try to remove carbon dioxide from the skies or find ways to reflect the Sun’s heat. Such radical paths must be examined, but risky experiments avoided.
An oil rig graveyard in Cromarty Firth, Scotland.
Pxfuel
Some geoengineering techniques are better understood than others. The US is investing in capturing carbon dioxide from the air, but ideas to block the Sun’s rays are raising big concerns.
Tourists flock to experience the heat in Death Valley, Calif.
(AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
With tourists flocking in droves to ‘experience’ heat waves, perhaps it’s time for everyone to take a good hard look at their individual contribution to global warming.
Some airlines are already experimenting with sustainable aviation fuel.
Michael H/Stone Collection/Getty Images
Airlines are investing in sustainable biofuel startups and starting to uses alternative fuels, including cooking oil, ag waste and corn ethanol. But biofuels alone won’t be enough, research shows.
The ocean twilight zone could store vast amounts of carbon captured from the atmosphere, but first we need a 4D monitoring system to ensure ramping up carbon storage does no harm.
The global carbon offsets market is set to continue growing, but scientists and environmentalists remain sceptical.
nBhutinat/Shutterstock
Carbon offsetting is often met with scepticism, but a new report suggests that if correctly designed it can be an important part of the net zero transition.
Kevin Trenberth, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
A climate scientist looks at what works and some popular ideas that aren’t as cheap or effective as people hope.
Building solar panels over water sources is one way to both provide power and reduce evaporation in drought-troubled regions.
Robin Raj, Citizen Group & Solar Aquagrid
From pulling carbon dioxide out of the air to turning water into fuel, innovators are developing new technologies and pairing existing ones to help slow global warming.
The U.S. had seven operating offshore wind turbines with 42 megawatts of capacity in 2021. The Biden administration’s goal is 30,000 megawatts by 2030.
AP Photo/Michael Dwyer
Wind turbines often can produce more power than is needed for electricity onshore. That extra energy could be put to work capturing and storing carbon.
One ‘mechanical tree’ is about 1,000 times faster at removing carbon dioxide from air than a natural tree. The first is to start operating in Arizona in 2022.
Illustration via Arizona State University
Klaus Lackner is finding new ways to cut the technology’s high costs and energy demand, and he’s about to launch the first ‘mechanical tree’.
Most carbon dioxide captured in the U.S. today is used to extract more oil.
Citizens of the Planet/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The UN’s panel on climate change said that technologies to remove CO2 will be necessary to limit global temperature rise to only 1.5 degrees Celsius. But these techniques are largely unproven.