Geo-engineering is not something we’ve covered on this blog before. It’s the idea of using man-made techniques to reduce CO2 emissions, or to reflect heat back out of our atmosphere to keep the planet cool.

Over the years climate scientists have made some pretty wacky suggestions, but there’ve also been some good ones. Recently they’ve started to be taken more seriously, as scientists are recognising that huge engineering projects may be the only way to buy more time.

 One of the most interesting proposals is cloud ships.

The idea is that 2,000 ships could travel the oceans, sucking up sea water and spraying it high into the air to form white clouds (don’t worry, not rain clouds!). These clouds would reflect 1 – 2% of the sun’s rays preventing them from warming the oceans by small amounts, but by enough to have a significant impact on global warming. Enough to neutralise C02 emissions, if you believe the theory.

Sounds a bit silly? But it’s actually being considered as a climate solution and is under investigation by the Royal Society. The Copenhagen Consensus Centre, a think tank investigating geo-engineering ideas, has concluded that the scheme would cost around $9 billion USD, a fraction of the cost associated with more conventional climate solutions. It could also be up and running within 25 years, as opposed to the long drawn out solutions like carbon capture.

Geo-engineering isn’t being seen as the answer to climate change, but as a way to buy time as we move to a low-carbon economy. Reducing the sun’s rays could cool the earth whilst we build networks of renewable energy and work out ways to develop sustainably.

As with US Energy Secretary Stephen Chu’s suggestion to paint all roofs white, this idea has had a hilarious reaction in the comments boxes of newspapers and blogs, where many people seem to think they are better qualified to comment on solutions to climate change than Nobel-prize-winning physicists and feel the need to share their views with the world. What is true is that these ideas need more scrutiny. And what’s changed is that some of them are actually worth scrutinizing.

We’ll keep you updated on other geo-engineering proposals.

Green Energy Republic