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SUMMARY:CPP Seminar: Should we Engineer the Climate? - Dr Hugh Hunt\, Seni
 or Lecturer\, Department of Engineering\, University of Cambridge
DTSTART:20130514T120000Z
DTEND:20130514T130000Z
UID:TALK45328@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Miranda Gomperts
DESCRIPTION:How might we cool the planet if we fail to meet our CO2 emissi
 ons targets? This is a question that perhaps we shouldn't even ask because
  it will distract us from our primary goal of reducing CO2 emissions. But 
 seriously\, what if our CO2 reduction efforts don't work? Do we just accep
 t the climate consequences of the CO2 we generate (35 billion tonnes we em
 it annually) - sea level rise\, desertification\, ocean acidification\, lo
 ss of habitat - or do we try to fix the damage that we are causing?\n\nThe
 re are several viable technologies for controlling the climate - known as 
 "geoengineering". Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) by sequestering CO2 is one\
 , or Solar Radiation Management (SRM) using space reflectors is another. T
 he SPICE project (Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering
 ) investigates the benefits\, risks\, costs and feasibility of SRM by inje
 cting reflective aerosols in the atmosphere. If particles can be pumped in
 to the stratosphere at an altitude of 20km\, emulating the effects of a la
 rge volcanic eruption\, then global cooling of about 2 degC can be achieve
 d. The particles would be pumped through a number of high-pressure pipes s
 uspended by balloons. SPICE presents many novel engineering challenges\, e
 specially the design of the pipe and pumping systems to withstand pressure
 s up to 4000 bar and tensions up to 500 tonnes. In this non-technical intr
 oductory presentation a number of these challenges will be discussed. The 
 important questions of ethics and governance will also be addressed.\n\nTh
 e answer to the question is "No\, we should not engineer the climate". In 
 that case we should stop burning fossil fuels
LOCATION:Room S2\, Department of Politics and International Studies\, Alis
 on Richard Building\, 7 West Road\, Cambridge 
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