Aug. 27: Climate change is a big issue for all the governments the world over and now a British engineers’ lobby group has suggested that geo-engineering could be used to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
A range of potential geo-engineering options available for reducing carbon dioxide from atmosphere include artificial trees, algae-coated buildings, and reflective buildings and roofs, a report on climate change and geo-engineering by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers said on Thursday. "Geo-engineering could be another potential component in our approach to climate change that could provide the world with extra time to decarbonise the global economy," the institute said.
The most cost-effective way of reducing carbon dioxide is the use of machines, or carbon dioxide filters, which can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The machines, like trees, capture carbon dioxide from the air which is passed through it. These machines are so effective that 100,000 such trees would be able to remove all carbon from transport-related emissions in the UK, the head of the institute’s environment and climate change group, Dr Tim Fox, said.
Recommending use of algae to reduce carbon dioxide, the institute said that algae naturally absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. Strips of algae can be fitted to the outside of buildings and then periodically harvested from the surfaces and used as biofuel. Reducing the amount of solar radiation absorbed by the earth’s climate has the potential to cool the planet.
