What might we humans do with geoengineering to fix global warming as quickly as possible? Here are a few ideas:
- Afforestation: Planting large numbers of trees to increase carbon sequestration.
- Ocean fertilization: Adding nutrients to the ocean to stimulate phytoplankton growth and increase carbon absorption.
- Biochar production: Converting biomass into charcoal and burying it to lock carbon in the soil.
- Cloud brightening: Spraying seawater into the atmosphere to enhance cloud reflectivity and cool the planet. Spraying sea salt particles into marine clouds to increase their reflectivity.
- Space mirrors: Deploying large reflective mirrors in space to reflect sunlight away from Earth.
- Carbon capture and storage (CCS): Capturing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and industrial facilities and storing it underground.
- Enhanced weathering: Accelerating the natural process of rock weathering to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
- Artificial trees: Engineering devices that absorb carbon dioxide directly from the air.
- Reflective roofs and pavements: Using materials with high reflectivity to reduce urban heat islands and cool the planet.
- Solar radiation management (SRM): Injecting aerosols into the stratosphere to reflect sunlight and reduce global temperatures.
- Microalgae cultivation: Growing microalgae to absorb carbon dioxide and use it for biofuel production.
- Ocean alkalinity enhancement: Adding alkaline substances to seawater to increase its ability to absorb carbon dioxide.
- White roofs on buildings: Painting rooftops with reflective coatings to decrease heat absorption.
- Direct air capture: Using large-scale machines to extract carbon dioxide from ambient air and store it.
- Floating wind turbines: Harnessing wind energy offshore to generate electricity without emitting greenhouse gases.
- Soil carbon sequestration: Utilizing agricultural practices and land management techniques to increase carbon storage in soil.
- Removing black carbon emissions: Reducing emissions from incomplete combustion processes like burning coal and diesel fuel.
- Methane capture: Capturing methane emissions from landfills, livestock, and fossil fuel extraction.
- High-altitude nuclear explosions: Detonating nuclear bombs in the stratosphere to create a temporary layer of dust, reducing sunlight and cooling the planet.
- Carbon mineralization: Accelerating the natural process of converting carbon dioxide into stable minerals through chemical reactions.
- Enhanced phytoplankton growth: Introducing iron or other nutrients into the ocean to promote phytoplankton growth and carbon absorption.
- Ocean upwelling: Pumping nutrient-rich water from the deep ocean to the surface to enhance the growth of marine plants.
- Carbon farming: Implementing farming techniques that increase carbon storage in agricultural soils.
- Urban forestry: Increasing the number of trees and green spaces in urban areas to cool the environment and reduce carbon dioxide levels.
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We don’t need a miracle, sci-fi cure. We just need a sensible energy policy, which would do an awful lot very quickly. I’m associated with Recycled Energy Development, a company that turns manufacturers’ waste heat into 100% clean electricity and steam. The result is far higher efficiency, which means lower energy costs and greenhouse emissions. Studies done for the EPA and DoE suggest recycling energy just at manufacturing facilities (it could be done at a lot more places as well) would reduce global warming pollution by 20% — which is as much as if we took every single passenger vehicle off the road. Pretty amazing. The only reason it isn’t happening more right now is that government regulations favor inefficient utilities, making it hard for things like energy recycling to really happen on a large scale. By changing these regulations, or even by adopting a cap-and-trade plan that actually rewarded clean energy producers (most on the table just punish them less), we’d radically reduce our emissions.