Audio (20m) Hewett and Lomberg: Geo-engineering: fixing climate for just US$6 billion
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Andrew Lockley
Aug 27, 2012, 5:44:51 AM8/27/12
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Geo-engineering: fixing climate for just US$6 billion
Summary: What's the best way to deal with climate change?
Some engineers think that geo-engineering, or re-engineering the
planet, is a far more cost-effective way of tackling climate change
than market mechanisms, like emissions trading schemes or Australia's
carbon tax.
One model suggests that a technique called "cloud brightening" could
counter all of the 21st century's projected temperature rises, for a
cost of just US$6 billion. To put that into perspective, that's around
the price being paid for 24 F/A-18 Super Hornet jet fighters by the
Royal Australian Air Force.
Whether that model is accurate or not, it's starting to become clear
that market mechanisms and Kyoto-style negotiations won't be enough.
On this week's Patch Monday podcast, you'll hear from two enthusiasts
for geo-engineering who spoke at the Centre for Independent Studies'
recent "Consilium" conference.
"Even if we do reduce carbon emissions drastically, it's going to be a
very long time before we see any of the effects of that, and it will
be very costly and slow," said Dr Caspar Hewett, visiting researcher
at the University of Newcastle in the UK.
"These other techniques that we're talking about are probably going to
be necessary anyway, even if we do reduce carbon," he said.
The techniques include grand engineering schemes, such as artificial
volcanoes that inject sulphur particles into the atmosphere to seed
clouds, and even placing millions of smart mirrors into orbit around
the earth, like a giant pergola.
But simple, small-scale techniques can also produce significant
effects, such as planting trees and painting the rooftops of buildings
white to reflect sunlight.
"If you paint a quarter of all London rooftops white, you could
probably reduce heat wave temperatures by 10 degrees centigrade — so
lots of impact at very low cost. Let's think about that," said Danish
author and political scientist Dr Bjørn Lomberg, director of the
Copenhagen Consensus Centre in Washington.
Needless to say, these schemes are controversial. Both Hewett and
Lomberg are calling for large-scale experiments to validate the
mathematical models.
Summary: What's the best way to deal with climate change?
Some engineers think that geo-engineering, or re-engineering the
planet, is a far more cost-effective way of tackling climate change
than market mechanisms, like emissions trading schemes or Australia's
carbon tax.
One model suggests that a technique called "cloud brightening" could
counter all of the 21st century's projected temperature rises, for a
cost of just US$6 billion. To put that into perspective, that's around
the price being paid for 24 F/A-18 Super Hornet jet fighters by the
Royal Australian Air Force.
Whether that model is accurate or not, it's starting to become clear
that market mechanisms and Kyoto-style negotiations won't be enough.
On this week's Patch Monday podcast, you'll hear from two enthusiasts
for geo-engineering who spoke at the Centre for Independent Studies'
recent "Consilium" conference.
"Even if we do reduce carbon emissions drastically, it's going to be a
very long time before we see any of the effects of that, and it will
be very costly and slow," said Dr Caspar Hewett, visiting researcher
at the University of Newcastle in the UK.
"These other techniques that we're talking about are probably going to
be necessary anyway, even if we do reduce carbon," he said.
The techniques include grand engineering schemes, such as artificial
volcanoes that inject sulphur particles into the atmosphere to seed
clouds, and even placing millions of smart mirrors into orbit around
the earth, like a giant pergola.
But simple, small-scale techniques can also produce significant
effects, such as planting trees and painting the rooftops of buildings
white to reflect sunlight.
"If you paint a quarter of all London rooftops white, you could
probably reduce heat wave temperatures by 10 degrees centigrade — so
lots of impact at very low cost. Let's think about that," said Danish
author and political scientist Dr Bjørn Lomberg, director of the
Copenhagen Consensus Centre in Washington.
Needless to say, these schemes are controversial. Both Hewett and
Lomberg are calling for large-scale experiments to validate the
mathematical models.
Russell Seitz
Aug 30, 2012, 11:34:08 PM8/30/12
to geoengi...@googlegroups.com
"If you paint a quarter of all London rooftops white, you could
probably reduce heat wave temperatures by 10 degrees centigrade — so
lots of impact at very low cost. Let's think about that," said Danish
author and political scientist Dr Bjørn Lomberg,
probably reduce heat wave temperatures by 10 degrees centigrade — so
lots of impact at very low cost. Let's think about that," said Danish
author and political scientist Dr Bjørn Lomberg,
Since roofs constitute <25 % of greater london's area, a look at the radiative forcing potential of the relevant urban statistics:
Suggests Lomborg's estimate is too high by an order of magnitude or more.
Russell Seitz
Aug 31, 2012, 4:11:10 AM8/31/12
to geoengi...@googlegroups.com
For details see:
Akbari, H., Menon, S., and Rosenfeld, A. 2009. Global cooling: increasing world-wide urban albedos to offset CO2 (Download). Climatic Change, 94, pp. 275-286. doi:10.1007/s10584-008-9515-9
Akbari, H. and Rosenfeld, A. 2008. White roofs cool the world, directly offset CO2 and delay global warming (Download). Heat Island Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Research Highlight, Nov 10.
Akbari, H., Menon, S., and Rosenfeld, A. 2008. Equivalent CO2 avoided by reflective roofs and pavements in California (Download). A memo to Dr. Bart Croes (California Air Resources Board). Revised Oct 21
Russell Seitz
Aug 31, 2012, 9:59:41 AM8/31/12
to geoengi...@googlegroups.com
Hashem Akbari has kindly advised me of this new paper as well :
Akbari, H., H.D. Matthews, and D. Seto, “The long-term effect of increasing the albedo of urban areas,” Environ. Res. Lett. 7, 024004 (10pp), 2012. 024004. http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/7/2/024004
Akbari, H., H.D. Matthews, and D. Seto, “The long-term effect of increasing the albedo of urban areas,” Environ. Res. Lett. 7, 024004 (10pp), 2012. 024004. http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/7/2/024004
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