Geoengineering

A recent conference at Harvard University dealt with geoengineering, and how we can fix global warming on a planetary scale. The discussion at the conference was more about the philosophical questions raised, and whether geoengineering would do more harm than good.

Some of the plans to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmposphere include one that would use sodium hydroxide to absorb CO2, which would then be used to form limestone. The limestone would then be baked which would release pure CO2, which could be stored.

Another strategy would be to build water treatment plants on the oceans that would combine the hydrogen in the water with the chloride in the salt to form hydrochloric acid. This process would remove the acid from the ocean, increasing it's alkalinity and it's ability to absorb CO2. The acid would be sprayed on nearby rocks which would neutralize it before it washed back into the ocean.

A third concept has already been proved to not work. The theory was that if we add iron to the ocean it would promote the growth of algae, which would then absorb more CO2. New research shows that rapid blooms of algae absorb less CO2 than slower growing algae... so encouraging rapid algae blooms would not absorb much CO2.

What do you think? Whether or not you believe in global warming... how would you feel about a planteary "fix" to the problem?

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