Geoengineering session at Planet Under Pressure conference

[Alan Robock]

Dear All,

I would like to remind you of the following geoengineering session for the Planet Under Pressure conference, to be held in London March 26-29, 2012.  The abstract deadline is September 16.

http://www.planetunderpressure2012.net/session_darton.asp

Geoengineering: Engineering Constraints

Richard Darton, University of Oxford, UK; Alan Robock, Rutgers University, USA; Alex Lubansky, Unversity of Oxford, UK; Dr Matt Watson, University of Bristol, UK

Session content:
This session will consider the engineering constraints associated with all proposed geoengineering techniques.

Geoengineering - the deliberate large-scale intervention in the Earth's natural systems to counteract climate change - is a complex, controversial and heterogeneous field. As a society we may lack the political will or the technical ability to curb greenhouse gas emissions sufficiently to avoid dangerous climate change. While the primary focus must remain on emission reduction, we need to assess the technical, scientific, ethical, governance, and social issues associated with potential geoengineering techniques to be able to advise policymakers as to which, if any, of them could be employed without creating countervailing side-effects.

This session will examine the technical feasibility and engineering challenges associated with implementing proposed geoengineering techniques. Specifically, the session will examine the engineering constraints pertaining to stratospheric aerosols, cloud brightening and techniques designed to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it away from the atmosphere.

Submit an abstract for this session at http://www.planetunderpressure2012.net/abstractsubmission.asp

-- 
   
Alan

[On sabbatical for current academic year, and currently at NCAR.
The best way to contact me is by email, rob...@envsci.rutgers.edu, or
at 732-881-1610 (cell) or 303-497-1399 (work).]

Alan Robock, Professor II (Distinguished Professor)
  Editor, Reviews of Geophysics
  Director, Meteorology Undergraduate Program
  Associate Director, Center for Environmental Prediction
Department of Environmental Sciences        Phone: +1-732-932-9800 x6222
Rutgers University                                  Fax: +1-732-932-8644
14 College Farm Road                   E-mail: rob...@envsci.rutgers.edu
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8551  USA      http://envsci.rutgers.edu/~robock

[Chris]

Dear All,

Note also that Day 3 of the conference has a session on Geoengineering
Governance:

http://www.planetunderpressure2012.net/session_rayner.asp

Geoengineering governance
Steve Rayner, University of Oxford, UK; Julian Savulescu, University
of Oxford, UK; Catherine Redgwell, UCL, UK; Nick Pidgeon, Cardiff
University, UK; John Shepherd, The Royal Society, UK

Session content:
This sessions will consider the governance aspects (ethical, legal,
public perception, economic and political issues) associated with all

proposed geoengineering techniques. Geoengineering - the deliberate
large-scale intervention in the Earth's natural systems to counteract
climate change - is a complex, controversial and heterogeneous field.

As a society we may lack the political will or the technical ability

to curb GHG emissions sufficiently to avoid dangerous climate change.

While the primary focus must remain on emission reduction, we need to

assess the technical and social issues associated with potential

geoengineering techniques to be able to advise policymakers as to
which, if any, of them could be employed without creating
countervailing side-effects.

The target audience for these sessions is diverse: policymakers,
academics, NGOs and the public. Discussion of geoengineering must not
raise false hopes which could distract attention from the need to
reduce emissions, but given the repeated failure of international
negotiations to adequately address the threat of climate change it
would be foolhardy not to comprehensively assess the potential and
risks of geoengineering techniques.

A specific goal of the session will be to raise awareness of, and
elicit contributions for, the Solar Radiation Management Governance
Initiative (SRMGI), an international NGO-driven initiative exploring
the governance of solar "geoengineering". SRMGI is co-convened by the
Royal Society, Environmental Defense Fund, and TWAS, the academy of
science for the developing world, with a large range of "stakeholder
partner" NGOs and a working group of 28 experts from 17 countries.

Chris Vivian
Chris....@cefas.co.uk

On Sep 2, 6:14 pm, Alan Robock <rob...@envsci.rutgers.edu> wrote:
> Dear All,
>
> I would like to remind you of the following geoengineering session for
> the Planet Under Pressure conference, to be held in London March 26-29,
> 2012.  The abstract deadline is September 16.
>
> http://www.planetunderpressure2012.net/session_darton.asp
>
>     Geoengineering: Engineering Constraints
>

> *Richard Darton*, /University of Oxford, UK; /*Alan Robock,* /Rutgers
> University, USA/; *Alex Lubansky*, /Unversity of Oxford, UK/; *Dr Matt
> Watson*, /University of Bristol, UK/
>
> /Session content:/