Scientists are studying the idea of using giant shields in space to stop sun rays from warming Earth. | Moises Castillo/AP Photo
As the planet bakes, scientists are putting forward increasingly outlandish ideas to curb climate change. The latest: a gigantic shield between the sun and the Earth that blocks out the heat.
Just because the idea is far-out doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work. That’s the takeaway of a study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, writes Chelsea Harvey.
The idea is simple in theory. A massive, reflective sunshade built between Earth and the sun could help cool the planet by blocking out some incoming solar radiation. In fact, engineer James Early first proposed a version of the plan in 1989, and it's been bouncing around the fringes of climate geoengineering conversations ever since.
The new study by theoretical cosmologist István Szapudi is reviving the idea by proposing a potential solution to one of the sunshade’s major problems: its weight.
It’s so heavy To avoid being dislodged from space, scientists concluded the sunshade would need to weigh at least a few million metric tons — for reference, the Hoover Dam comes in at 6.6 million metric tons. Something that huge could be expensive, time-consuming and a nightmare to transport.
But Szapudi, who is based at the University of Hawaii, found that it's theoretically possible to build a smaller shield and tether it to a heavy counterweight, such as an asteroid, to hold it in place.
With a sufficient counterweight, Szapudi estimates the sunshade could be as light as 35,000 metric tons and still block out enough radiation to meet the Paris Agreement’s climate goals.
Reality check Still, it would take “an army of engineers” to prove whether the sunshade is feasible in real life, Szapudi said.
And like with most climate geoengineering proposals, the associated risks could be devastating. For example, the idea of spraying aerosols into the atmosphere to deflect the sun’s rays has gained increased attention in recent months. But scientists worry that such a move could affect precipitation and other global weather patterns, while possibly damaging the Earth's ozone layer.
While such ideas are, for now, just ideas, they keep on coming — underscoring the mammoth nature of the climate crisis and scientists’ growing desperation to find a solution in a world that isn’t cutting emissions fast enough to stave off catastrophe.
It's Tuesday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to askibell@eenews.net.
Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Kelsey Tamborrino breaks down new federal rules to accelerate the phaseout of incandescent light bulbs and how the regulations are adding fuel to Washington's political and culture wars.
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POLITICO illustration/Photos by iStock, Marcus Rehrman/USGS
Meet the $2.7 billion frog In a draft recovery plan, the federal government estimated that it could cost an eye-popping $2,783,591,500 over the next 40 years to save the threatened Oregon spotted frog — a hard sell even among ardent frog fanciers.
But the Fish and Wildlife Service can both overstate the price while altogether ignoring the tangible health, economic, aesthetic and recreational benefits of species and habitat conservation, writes Michael Doyle.
Revving up ecosystem accounting Under a new White House proposal, federal agencies could be required to beef up the way they account for ecosystem benefits, including for the climate and human health, writes Jean Chemnick.
While ecosystems have sometimes appeared in the cost-benefit assessments that agencies must write to support their rules, there has never been a governmentwide directive or guidance for doing that accounting.
Billionaire on the run The U.K.'s decision to back carbon capture and storage technology has prompted an Australian billionaire to rethink his investments in the country's green technology, writes Charlie Cooper.
Andrew Forrest, an international investor and climate philanthropist, said the U.K. government plans to pour billions into carbon capture and storage is pinning “Britain’s hopes [on] failed technology.”
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Smoke billows from chimneys of the cooling towers of a coal-fired power plant in China, where coal consumption is growing and contributing to extreme heat globally. | Andy Wong/AP Photo
Virginia faces a legal challenge from environmental groups after greenlighting plans to leave a regional carbon trading system.
The Energy Department is easing back on its proposed energy efficiency rules for gas stoves after further reviewing data submitted by industry groups and utilities.
That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.
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By 2030, our target is to reach 25 million tonnes of CO2 per year in storage and offsets, the equivalent to the emissions of 3.1 million homes annual energy use. Part of that effort is our proposed Eastridge CCS project in the San Joaquin Valley, which is projected to capture up to 300,000 metric tonnes of CO2 per year. And through our partnership with Svante, we’re working to reduce the cost of carbon capture and help scale the technology. Moving toward a lower carbon future by developing and deploying carbon capture and storage solutions, that’s energy in progress.
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