The Swedish Space Agency has set up an experiment with geo-engineering to determine whether the sun can be wiped out with aerosols. The project, funded by Bill Gates, provoked fierce opposition from eco-groups.
Proposed by researchers at Harvard University, the Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment, or SCoPEx, finally plans to release a cloud of calcium carbonate – more commonly than lime – into the atmosphere from a high-altitude balloon to reduce its effect on sunlight. to study what reaches the earth. . However, the project was too controversial and the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) said on Wednesday that a test flight scheduled for June would not move forward.
“The scientific community is divided on geo-engineering, including any related technology tests such as Esrange’s planned technical balloon test flight this summer,” the SSC said in a statement on Wednesday.
This spring, SSC held discussions with leading geo-engineering experts and other stakeholders, as well as with the SCoPEx Advisory Board. As a result of these dialogues and in agreement with Harvard, SSC decided not to carry out the technical test flight planned for this summer.
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The June flight, planned for the Arctic city of Kiruna, would have simply tested the balloon systems to pave the way for the study, but local activists have voiced its initiative. In a joint letter written last month, the Saami Council – which works for the indigenous Saami population of Sweden – and three environmental groups warned that the SCoPEx experiment “Catastrophic consequences.”
While SCoPEx’s website states that the experiment would be “No significant danger to people or the environment” and would release only a small amount of particles into the air, the Sami Council opposed songeo-engineering in draft and said “Mainly try to mimic volcanic eruptions by constantly spraying the air with sun-drenched particles.” The activist groups also argued that SCoPEx could divert attention from the goal of reducing carbon emissions “Irreversible socio-political consequences that could jeopardize the world’s necessary efforts to achieve zero-carbon societies.”
The experiment received support from Harvard’s Solar Geoengineering Research Program, of which the website mentions Bill Gates, a billionaire climate breaker, among its private donors, but does not mention his contribution. Previously, a lead researcher at SCoPEx, David Keith of Harvard, received at least $ 4.6 million from Gates for his Innovative Climate and Energy Research Fund (FICER), according to the Guardian. FICER was founded in 2007 and also funds research on sound geoengineering.
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Asked during a TED talk in 2010 about what “Emergency measures” humanity could implement to fight climate change if all else failed, Gates suggested that geo-engineering in the sun “insurance policy.”
‘There is a series of research on what is called geo-engineering, which are different techniques that can slow down the heating to buy us 20 or 30 years to get together. It’s now just an insurance policy; you hope you do not have to do it, ” he said, adding that the idea might be “Held in the back pocket.”
Keith, a professor of applied physics at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, told Reuters the SSC’s decision to scrap the experiment was “A setback,” but noted that the project could move to the US if the problems in Europe continue. Until then, the researchers say they will continue to work for SCoPEx in Sweden, hoping to generate public interest and support.
The experiment could find traction in the United States, as a report published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine last week called on the government to spend between $ 100 million and $ 200 million on geo-engineering projects, including technology to dim the sun. over the next five years.
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