'Crazy ideas ' to fight global warming revealed by scientists

Covering Greenland in blankets to stop the ice sheets melting, "tree bombs" to regenerate forests and sending a giant sunshade into space are just some of the ideas being proposed by scientists to save the planet from global warming.

Louise Gray, The Telegraph 13 Feb 09;

As further evidence emerges of the threat of climate change, scientists around the world are developing tools to try to stop the temperatures rising.

The science known as "geo-engineering" is considered dangerous by some for interfering with the world's delicate ecosystems, however advocates claim that it could "save the world" from catastrophic global warming.

A new series on Discovery Channel from this Sunday looks at some of the methods being proposed by scientists around the world.

Iain Riddick, series producer, said the scientists may have outlandish ideas but they are all respected in their field.

"Whether you agree climate change is caused by man or not the climate is changing. The question is should we stand back and let it happen or look at possible ways to mitigate the effects through engineering?" he said.

"These are eight crazy ideas which might just save the planet."

However Robin Webster of Friends of the Earth said it was dangerous to rely on untested science.

"We cannot afford to close our eyes to new ideas but the fear is politicians see geo-engineering as the magic bullet that will get us out of trouble and take attention away from making difficult choices to cut carbon emissions now. We need to look at tried and tested technologies like renewables that work and can start reducing the threat climate change now."

Ways to save the planet:

1. Wrapping Greenland

Dr Jason Box, a glaciologist from Ohio State University, proposes wrapping Greenland in a blanket. By covering the valleys that form darker areas, therefore attracting the sun's heat, he hopes to significantly slow the melting of the glacier.

2. Hungry ocean

Dr Brian von Herzen of the The Climate Foundation and marine biologists at the University of Hawaii and Oregon State University believe that the ocean could absorb much more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by creating plankton blooms. This is done by mixing the nutrient rich water in the colder depths of the ocean with the warmer surface water by placing huge wave-powered pumps on the swells of the North Pacific.

3. Space sun shield

Professor Roger Angel, who helped create the world's largest telescope, believes the power of the sun could be reduced by placing a giant sun shield in space. The 100,000 square mile sunshade would be made up of trillions of lenses that reduce the sun's power by two per cent.

4. Raining forests

Consultant environmental engineer Mark Hodges believes forests could be generated by dropping "tree bombs" from a plane. The seedlings are dropped in a wax canister full of fertiliser that explodes when it hits the ground and grows into a tree. The method has already been used to regenerate mangrove forest in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.

5. Infinite Winds

Fred Ferguson, a Canadian engineer specialising in airships, has designed a wind turbine that will use the constant winds that exist at 1,000 feet to produce renewable energy.

6. Brighter World

Stephen Salter, an Edinburgh University engineer, believes that clouds can be created to protect the world from the power of the sun. He proposes forming clouds above the ocean by sending salt into the atmosphere.

7. Orbital power plant

Former Nasa physicist John Mankins believes the world could have a never-ending source of power and reduce carbon emissions by sending thousands of satellites into space to gather the sun's power and then beam them down to earth as a microwave.

8. Fixing carbon

David Keith, 2006 Canadian Geographic Environmental Scientist of the Year, believes he can create a machine that sucks in ambient air and sprays it with sodium hydroxide and then expels it as clean air. The carbon from the air will be captured and stored underground.