21st Century Challenges

Scientists issue warning that technology to beat global warming may backfire

Engineering solutions to modify the Earth's environment and climate may be necessary if humanity is to adapt to global warming, a group of influential scientists will say today. =

Necessity’s inventions

The infant science of geo-engineering – one that so many would gladly see strangled in its cradle – could grow into the best job creation scheme for universities ever invented.

Royal Society to research potential of geoengineering to limit global warming

The Royal Society has announced plans today to study which planetary-scale geoengineering techniques might play a practical role in stemming the worst impacts of climate change.

Farms to take heat out of warming

Farmers could help curb rising global temperatures by selecting crop varieties that reflect solar energy back into space, researchers say.

EU spending spree brings carbon capture closer to reality

Europe-wide plan proposes €1.25bn for carbon capture at coal-fired power plants; €1.75bn earmarked for better international energy links

Every silver lining has a cloud

Plans to engineer the climate may be less effective than had been hoped

National Grid to pipe carbon dioxide emissions under North Sea

National Grid is drawing up plans for a new business unit that will pipe carbon dioxide emissions from UK power stations for storage in geological formations beneath the North Sea

Geo-engineering our climate

Can geo-engineering rebuild the planet?

As global warming worsens, the idea of vast projects to alter the Earth's environment is moving from fantasy to necessity.

What is geoengineering?

Read about engineering solutions to directly modify the Earth's environment and climate to help ease the warming of the planet

Sulphur screens

Could a screen of chemicals in the stratosphere help to cool the earth?

Ocean fertilisation

How could fertilising the oceans help fight climate change?

Beijing blanketed by snow after China seeds clouds to beat drought

Heavy snowfalls over Beijing have been induced by blasting chemicals into clouds over northern China to try to mitigate the most severe drought to grip northern China in nearly half a century.

Ocean iron plan approved as researchers show algae absorb CO2

Greenhouse gases trapped deep in ocean by iron-fertilised algae, scientists say, as experiment gets green light

Customising clouds to stop global warming

An engineering professor and a cloud physics expert have been pumping salt into clouds to change the way they reflect light from the sun in an attempt to stop the planet heating up.

Artificial trees

Artificial trees that could extract CO2 from the atmosphere.

Increasing cloud reflectivity

Professors John Latham and Stephen Salter have designed a fleet of ships that could pump fine particles of sea-water into clouds

Increasing reflectivity

Could we cool the planet by increasing the reflectivity of urban areas?

Scientists to stop global warming with 100,000 square mile sun shade

Scientists claim they can fight global warming by firing trillions of mirrors into space to deflect the sun's rays forming a 100,000 square mile "sun shade".

Carbon capture won’t work until 2030, says energy boss

Sam Laidlaw, chief executive of Centrica, has warned that coal plants fitted with carbon capture storage (CCS) equipment are unlikely to be ready to make big cuts in Britain's emissions before 2030.

Decision on new coal-fired plant delayed again

Decisions about any new coal-fired power plants in the UK have been delayed until the autumn, prompting warnings from energy companies about the growing risk that the country could run out of electricity generating capacity.

Meet the panel for ‘Engineering our climate’

Read the biographies of the panel for 'Engineering our climate' event. Prof David Keith is an internationally renowned environmental scientist, based at Calgary Univeristy, Canada and Dr Paul Johnston, Head of Science Unit for Greenpeace International

Big problems need big solutions

Climate change is a massive problem that needs big and bold solutions, says Professor Tim Lenton. He outlines the reasons why "geo-engineering" projects could help win the battle against dangerous climate change.

Hopes of climate change accord ‘are sinking’

Two leading climate scientists have broken ranks with their peers to declare that hopes of getting a meaningful political deal on halting global warming this year are already lost. Is Geoengineering Plan B?

Carbon capture: Scrubbing the skies

Removing carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere could help combat climate change. Will it really work?

Plan B: scientists get radical in bid to halt global warming ‘catastrophe’

The director of a Nasa space laboratory will this week lead thousands of climate change campaigners through Coventry in an extraordinary intervention in British politics.

Artificial trees and brightened clouds may help to cool us down

Techniques for geo-engineering are coming under serious scrutiny as temperatures and CO2 emissions continue to rise

Without commercial carbon capture, it’s ‘game over’, E.ON boss tells government

Leading energy industry executives today called on the government to ensure the development of carbon capture and storage becomes commercially viable.

Scientists perform ocean experiments

An international team of scientists has returned from the southern ocean after conducting the biggest experiment into geo-engineering.

Artificial trees and brightened clouds may help to cool us down

Techniques for geo-engineering are coming under serious scrutiny as temperatures and CO2 emissions continue to rise

MPs call for government geo-engineering strategy

The report from the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee concludes that the UK has "no clear strategy" for the engineering sector and is facing a "lack of expertise" that threatens the viability of government initiatives to cut carbon emissions

Who ate all the algae?

A group of Indian and German researchers gave their first report from the biggest ever experiment in geo-engineering: an expedition to pour iron into the Southern Ocean.

Solution to the carbon problem could be under the ground

Hope for the fight against climate change as study finds greenhouse gas can be buried without fear of leaking

Obama climate adviser open to geo-engineering to tackle global warming

The global warming situation has become so dire that Barack Obama's chief scientific adviser has raised with the president the possibility of massive-scale technological fixes to alter the climate known as 'geo-engineering'.

Fiddling With The Earth’s Thermostat

Scientists, including Obama's science advisor, get tied in knots over geoengineering.

The emissions reductions gospel is failing – we need something more

NGOs who oppose geo-engineering are running the risk of climatic catastrophe

Engineers set to convert carbon dioxide into solid rock

Engineers in Iceland are set to convert carbon dioxide to solid rock as a way to tackle global warming.

How to Fix a Climate Emergency

As forecasts for global temperatures grow increasingly dire, scientists are taking a serious look at an idea once considered crazy: reengineering the atmosphere.

UK government to unveil plans for coal-powered future

Key to the plans will be boosting carbon capture and storage technology. CCS has the potential to capture 90% of emissions but has never been proven at commercial scale.

Budget 2009: Darling gives renewables a £5bn shot in the arm

British Wind Energy Association welcomes package, but planning and grid connections still restrict renewables revolution

Pollution ‘fights global warming’

Air pollution may be helping the fight against global warming by enhancing the ability of plants to absorb carbon dioxide, scientists say.

Interview: James Lovelock on how to save Gaia

James Lovelock suggests that the technology for reversing climate change may be within our grasp

Clean coal push marks reversal of UK energy policy

Decision not to allow any new coal-powered plants to be built in Britain without carbon capture represents a major victory for the new Department for Energy and Climate Change and green pressure groups

Clean coal is future for energy supplies

Greenhouse gas emissions from new power stations will be collected and permanently stored deep underground

New coal power plants must capture carbon

New coal-fired power stations to be built in the UK must have carbon capture and storage facilities, the government said on Thursday.

The climate engineers

Schemes to reflect sun or absorb CO2 warrant study - to sort the real science from the science fiction

Time to act

Without a solid commitment from the world's leaders, innovative ways to combat climate change are likely to come to nothing.

Fertilising the seas opens up an ocean of opportunity for commerce

Many proposals to save the planet through geo-engineering are immensely expensive and futuristic.

Have your say - Engineering our climate

Tell us what you thought of 'Engineering our climate' event. Discuss the issues raised on the night by our panel.

Scientists urges big push into geo-engineering

Speaking at London’s Royal Geographical Society, leading Canadian climate scientist Prof David Keith said the time had come to invest intensively in geo-engineering research instead of waiting to see if efforts to cut CO2 emissions in themselves would avert catastrophic climate change.

Professor Steven Chu: paint the world white to fight global warming

Steven Chu, the Nobel prize-winning physicist appointed by President Obama as Energy Secretary, wants to paint the world white. A global initiative to change the colour of roofs, roads and pavements so that they reflect more sunlight and heat could play a big part in containing global warming, he said yesterday.

Carbon capture technology tested

New carbon capture technology is being tested for the first time in the UK on a working coal-fired power station.

The pros and cons of geoengineering

Geoengineering solutions to curb global warming may offer advantages in combating temperature rise, but could also significantly damage the earth’s eco-systems, climate scientists say in a new study published recently in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

China recruits algae to combat climate change

Chinese firm behind ambitious plan to breed microalgae in greenhouse with the potential to absorb carbon emissions

Just add lime (to the sea) – the latest plan to cut CO2 emissions

Putting lime into the oceans could stop or even reverse the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere, according to proposals unveiled at a conference on climate change solutions in Manchester today. Cquestrate is one of a number of so-called "geo-engineering schemes" that have been proposed to intervene in the Earth's systems in order to tackle climate change.

The Manchester report

The idea is one of 20 radical solutions to the threat of global warming to be proposed during presentations at a conference in Manchester this weekend

Moscow snow ban to create engineering jobs

Civil engineering recruitment could be boosted in Russia this winter after the mayor of Moscow unveiled plans to launch a major geoengineering project.  Mayor Yury Luzhkov is hoping to control the weather by banning snow from landing in the Russian capital through expanding cloud seeding operations.

Interview: Ken Caldeira on geo-engineering’s possibilities and pitfalls

Atmospheric scientist Ken Caldeira first became known for his groundbreaking work on ocean acidification, a phrase originally coined as a headline for one of his papers. Of late, however, Caldeira's research has led him into the controversial area of geo-engineering — the large-scale, deliberate manipulation of the Earth's climate system.

Can we manipulate the weather?

Chinese scientists claim to be able to control the weather. But is so-called geoengineering more than wishful thinking? And, if so, should we be worried?

Tackling climate change with technology

Scientists have been looking for ways of modifying the Earth's environment to control global warming - it's known as geo-engineering.