“The allure of 'sexy' climate tech” It’s science using fiction, distant guesses, and polished PR.
When it comes to “sexy” climate solutions, solar geoengineering isn’t alone. “Every other day, there's some headline about, ‘oh, fusion is the ultimate techno fix!’” Wagner says, referring to nuclear
April 22, 2024
It's Earth Week, which means you'll hear lots of promises about climate solutions. Our Climate Desk is here to help you separate fact from fiction.
by Julia Simon
The allure of 'sexy' climate tech
One morning late last year, I drove to a parking lot on the outskirts of Silicon Valley. There I met Andrew Song — beanie, puffy jacket. And Luke Iseman — mohawk hairstyle and an orange T-shirt that read Cool Earth.
They showed me inside Andrew’s gray RV. In the back was a mass of rope, tape and gas masks – I’d understand the gas masks soon. In the front were two tanks full of helium and sulfur dioxide gas. Plus a blue Ikea bag with giant balloons.
This random assortment of tools are what Luke and Andrew use for “solar geoengineering” — shooting particles high in the atmosphere to reflect sunlight and cool the Earth.
You can read the article about the wider world of solar geoengineering — and why, after a bunch of coughing, I ended up putting on the gas mask.
Julia Simon/NPR
The solar geoengineering startup I saw — called Make Sunsets — has a DIY feel about them. Yet they have received more than $1.2 million in Silicon Valley venture capital funding. A U.S.-Israeli startup, Stardust Solutions, has raised $15 million.
This week — Earth Week — people will hear lots of promises about “climate solutions.” And many of them have to do with ambitious tech projects, like solar geoengineering.
Climate economist Gernot Wagner at Columbia Business School says this technology, which promises to cool the Earth for a relative bargain, is alluring. Especially as global temperatures get hotter and extreme weather gets scarier.
“Climate tech is sexy,” Wagner says, “because it's the allure of the techno fix. Look to D.C., and things are messy. Politics is messy. Wouldn't it be nice if we could cut through all of this with the ultimate techno fix that will solve this thing once and for all?”
When it comes to “sexy” climate solutions, solar geoengineering isn’t alone. “Every other day, there's some headline about, ‘oh, fusion is the ultimate techno fix!’” Wagner says, referring to nuclear fusion. If we had it, it could provide basically infinite energy.
The problem is that nuclear fusion is not ready or available now. And as for solar geoengineering? While scientists think it would, on average, cool the Earth, there are still many things we don’t know about it and it’s largely unregulated — all of which can pose huge global risks.
As you encounter potential climate solutions, you can make sense of things if you ask:
Is it available and scalable now?
Is it affordable?
Does it actually reduce the pollution that drives climate change? Some things marketed as “climate solutions” are designed to perpetuate the use of fossil fuels.
Could it help us adapt to a changing planet?
And what about potential side effects that could increase harm, particularly for vulnerable communities?
Not long ago solar energy was sexy climate tech. It may not be new anymore — and may even seem boring to some — but it does tick the boxes of being cheap, scalable and actually reducing climate pollution.
Sometimes the right solution might seem a bit boring in comparison to a shiny new idea, but it might be key to helping us rein in global warming right now.
So... Mr. Word Merchant... did you have any actual climate change solutions of your own, or was it just criticism of others who are doing something about climate change. Or are you sticking with the climate change denialism as the oil & coal companies would prefer???
https://www.geoengineeringwatch.org/the-dimming-full-length-climate-engineering-documentary/ Mother Earth lives and breathes Life, Who would want to change what God created, Who is using our taxes to damage Mother Earth ? They wanted you to believe the sky is black, but no one would believe that, So they say the sky is grey, The sky is blue, this is true, On a cold winters night, the sky turns white, turning darkness into daylight. Awakening to the Light,