Across the Atlantic, a project funded by Bill Gates its purpose is to block the sun and prevent global warming, prevent climate change.
Although this sounds like pure sci-fi, it is one of hundreds of plans to ‘geoengineer’ the Earth.
Geoengineering is a major environmental modification that affects the Earth’s climate, in an attempt to prevent global warming.
Around the world, geoengineering projects involve injecting chemical aerosols into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight and absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere with giant fans.
There is also ‘sea husbandry’ (adding nutrients to the surface of the ocean to encourage plant growth) and ‘tree planting’ (planting trees in areas that were previously devoid of forest).
Although geoengineering projects are well-intentioned to save the planet, some scientists worry that the expensive technology could cause problems, which could harm the climate and the environment. global warming the worst.
Now, interactive maps reveal where these geoengineering activities are taking place.
So, what’s going on in your area?
The map, prepared by the ETC Group and the Heinrich Boell Foundation, highlights the ‘dangerous growth’ of geoengineering projects.
The map, prepared by the ETC Group and the Heinrich Boell Foundation, highlights the ‘dangerous growth’ of geoengineering projects.
Here MailOnline takes a closer look at some of the British geoengineering projects on the map, of which there are more than 70.
Carbon Capture – Northwich, Cheshire
From 2022, the £20 million facility in Northwich operated by Tata Chemicals Europe will capture CO2 from the methane power plant also on site, before it is cleaned, cooled and liquefied.
They use a patented process to convert purified CO2 into sodium bicarbonate, a chemical used in baking powder and pharmaceutical tablets.
It is believed that the UK’s largest carbon capture project will convert 40,000 tonnes of waste carbon dioxide into useful sodium bicarbonate.
This is the equivalent of taking 20,000 cars off the road, which would help the UK meet its commitment to zero by 2050.
However, climate action groups and scientists have warned that the benefits of carbon capture are ‘unproven’ and could make the economy dependent on fossil fuels for a long time.
In June 2022, a carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) facility opened in Northwich, Cheshire, said to remove 40,000 tons of CO2 each year.
Carbon dioxide is stored in these units before it is converted to sodium bicarbonate, which is used in the production of many commercial products.
Solar radiation management – Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
In March last year, it was revealed that scientists conducted two open-air experiments to test solar radiation management (SRM) – reflecting sunlight away from Earth.
In contrast, they launched a high-altitude balloon that released sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere – the second layer of the atmosphere.
When injected into the stratosphere, sulfur dioxide produces sunlight-reflecting sulfate gases, which are said to have the cooling properties of a large volcanic eruption.
Andrew Lockley, the independent investigator leading the project, has written a report on the case, although it has not yet been published.
“I just hope that this test will play a small role in saving people from the hell of climate change,” he said. MIT Technology Review.
However, geoengineering mapmakers warn that injecting aerosols can cause ozone depletion and can disrupt rain and wind in tropical and subtropical regions.
‘This could cause drought in Africa and Asia and affect the monsoons, causing serious damage to the environment, and jeopardizing food and water sources for two billion people,’ they say.
Researchers in the UK launched a high-altitude balloon that released several hundred grams of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere Photo, file photo of a meteorological balloon.
Sizewell C – Sizewell, Suffolk
The Sizewell C nuclear power station is expected to become operational in the early 2030s, providing ‘green’ and reliable nuclear power for 6 million homes.
Located near the small town of Sizewell on the Suffolk coast, the site will also house a direct air capture (DAC) facility that will work alongside its two nuclear reactors.
DAC technologies use chemical reactions to remove CO2 from the air, usually with a stack of metal ‘air scrubbers’ that look like fans.
CO2 is stored underground, reducing the amount of greenhouse gases that reach the atmosphere, or is ‘processed’ to turn into fossil fuels.
In 2017, the Swiss company Climeworks opened the world’s first DAC facility near Zurich, while the first in the UK was switched on in Sheffield in December 2023.
Developers of Sizewell C say the DAC nuclear reactor will be powered by heat from the site’s nuclear reactors, which should lower costs, while ultimately sequestering 1.5 million tons of CO2 each year.
However, the DAC appears to have ‘very strong effects’ and could affect the environment on land, the mapmakers warn.
Pictured here is a view of the Sizewell C nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast. The site will have the capacity to produce nuclear energy with ‘direct air capture’ (DAC), a type of geoengineering. Nuclear power is not geoengineering, although it has no contradictions
This photo is of Climeworks’ carbon absorption plant in Switzerland. DAC grids like this are made up of individual, fixed filters known as ‘collectors’.
In addition, nuclear itself is a controversial way to generate energy, compared to the likes of solar and wind.
Although nuclear power itself is a renewable energy source, the material used in nuclear power plants – uranium – is irreversible.
Project Speedbird – Middlesbrough Project Speedbird
Announced in 2021, Project Speedbird counts British Airways and LanzaJet among its investors, who together threw $9 million into the project last year.
At a site in Middlesbrough, Project Speedbird will burn ‘biomass’ – natural products including wood and crop residues – to produce sustainable jet fuel such as ethanol.
Less controversial than other forms of geoengineering, Project Speedbird is expected to reduce emissions, although SAF is more expensive to produce than jet fuel.
Project Speedbird will produce 102 million liters of jet fuel (SAF) per year, which will reduce CO2 emissions by 230,000 tonnes per year.
This equates to approximately 26,000 British Airways domestic flights, says British Airways.
Project Speedbird – which counts British Airways among its investors – will produce 82,000 tonnes of aviation fuel (SAF) per year, according to project leaders. When an airplane burns jet fuel, it releases CO2 and other pollutants (file photo)
The sea – the shore of the sea
A London-based company called Seafields is sinking huge barrels of seaweed under the south coast.
The seaweed, called Sargassum, captures carbon as it is cultivated and ‘stored’ or locked in for thousands of years, he says.
However, experts at Geoengineering Monitor have said that such claims are ‘not supported by current scientific research’.
Disposing of natural materials such as wood or grass in the water as a way to reduce carbon is seen as a way to reduce the climate, although many questions about the environmental impact remain unanswered,’ the site adds.
There is now so much geoengineering going on around the world that the US is now building a warning system to detect when and where it is happening, New York Times.
There are concerns that countries could pursue unregulated geoengineering projects in secret – particularly solar blocking which could have ‘unintended consequences’.
These may include regional drought, crop failure and changes in the Atlantic jet stream, which can pull hurricanes and tropical diseases northward.
A project funded by Bill Gates has already launched balloons over Baja, Mexico releasing sunlight-reflecting aerosols into Earth’s atmosphere.
