Harvard scientists identify aerosol that can cool the planet and repair the ozone layer at the same time

By tech2 News Staff /  13 Dec 2016 , 13:47

The Paris Agreement is a historic global effort to combat global warming by taking steps to reduce carbon based emissions. However, just reducing emissions may not be enough to tackle the problem. A drastic measure for geoengineering the atmosphere is to release large amounts of sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere, which happen naturally after major volcanic eruptions. These aerosols cool down the atmosphere by reflecting sunlight back into space. However, the problem is that the same aerosols also damage the ozone layer, leading to increased risk of UV light exposure.

The UV light exposure can adversely affect human beings, by causing eye damage and increasing the chances of skin cancer. Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have found an aerosol that not only cools the atmosphere, but repairs the ozone layer at the same time. The research is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“This research is a turning point and an important step in analyzing and reducing certain risks of solar geoengineering,” said David Keith, the Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics at SEAS.  Frank Keutsch, the Stonington Professor of Engineering and Atmospheric Science at SEAS said “Essentially, we ended up with an antacid for the stratosphere.”

Previous research in the area was focused on nonreactive aerosols to reduce the damage done to the ozone layer. The Harvard researchers focused on highly reactive aerosols, that can have potentially beneficial effects. The researchers scanned the periodic table to identify potential candidates for geoengineering. After a process of eliminating unpredictable elements, rare earth metals and toxic substances, Alkali and Alkaline Earth metals emerged as potential candidates.

The researchers are testing the use of calcite in lab environments that simulate the atmosphere. The research teams will be a part of the Harvard Solar Geoengineering Research Program, to be launched next year. The interdisciplinary program is expected to be one of the most extensive and far reaching solar geoengineering research effort ever undertaken.

Oil companies establish Climate Investments fund; to pledge $1bn in tech to fight climate change

Image: Reuters

  04 Nov 2016 , 18:32

Some of the world’s biggest oil companies, including Saudi Aramco and Royal Dutch Shell, pledged on Friday to invest $1 billion to help fight climate change as a global deal to wean the world off fossil fuels came into force.

The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), which also includes Total, BP, Eni, Repsol, Statoil, CNPC, Pemex and Reliance Industries, has established the Climate Investments fund which will help develop carbon-reducing technologies over the coming ten years.

“OGCI is adding shared investment to shared action toward a lower carbon future – and I expect opportunities to grow and investments to prosper over time,” said BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley in a statement.

The investment is nevertheless dwarfed by the joint annual spending of the member companies, even as they battle one of the longest downturns in the sector’s history. Shell, Total, BP, Statoil, Repsol and Eni are expected to spend nearly $100 billion in 2016.

The 10 firms, which jointly produce around 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas, said a “large share” of the $1 billion pledged would go toward speeding up the use of carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) in gas-fired power plants.

OCGI has screened a list of 200 CCUS-related technologies already and is now assessing which one or ones to develop to commercial scale.

The group will also invest in reducing methane emissions and improving efficiency in transport and energy-intensive industries.

The announcement coincides with the official coming into force of the 2015 Paris Agreement, intended to wean the world economy off coal, oil and gas in the second half of this century in order to slash carbon emissions.

The oil and gas sector, which is directly responsible for 5 percent of manmade greenhouse emissions and the use of its products for another 32 percent, is under growing pressure from investors and the general public to help fight climate change.

Critics have said oil companies need to do more to reduce emissions and to shield themselves from climate change risks.

“Companies could be worth considerably more, not less, if they aligned their portfolios with 2˚C by exercising capital discipline and opting for lower-cost upstream projects that make both financial and climate sense,” said Anthony Hobley, chief executive of think tank Carbon Tracker Initiative.

Reuters