Pros And Cons Of Geoengineering

While geoengineering is dangerous to our climate and ecosystems the risk may be worth the rewards. Carbon capture and sequestration poses many challenges associated with cost and storage, but the upside of emissions reduction is tremendous. Changing the albedo of earth could negatively impact oceans and ecosystems, however, it could create shade for earth thereby directly lowering global temperatures. The United States should engage in geoengineering in the near future if climate oriented policy does not make any headway in the coming years. With that being said, geoengineering should be viewed as a last resort option based on the risks associated with manipulating the earth.
Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) encompasses a variety of …show more content…
The ethical implications of implementing CCS systems revolve around a false sense of safety and a need for international cooperation. Introducing a temporary solution may create a false sense of security and cause the world to fall into the trap of not continuing efforts of limiting fossil fuel dependency (Carbon Clean Solutions). CCS systems are going to lull the public to sleep on the main concern at hand which is reducing carbon emissions. These systems should only be used as a last resort in tandem with the main objective of reducing fossil fuel use. International cooperation raises red flags because climate will act regardless of national borders. Different cultures and beliefs could easily hinder implementation worldwide making CCS a nonviable option (Carbon Clean Solutions). CCS would need global cooperation to attempt a full-scale capture of emissions. Without cooperation implementation would be a half-hearted effort at best. Compressing carbon dioxide and storing it underground makes a lot of sense environmentally, however, if 1% of stored carbon leaked out for the next 100 years 63% would be released back into the atmosphere (Global warming is real). Simply stated, carbon capture and sequestration is only a temporary fix at best. We should not solely rely on technology to solve our issues because if it fails we will be too far gone to remediate the damage that has been done. Consequently, this advanced technology would not come at a bargain. Currently, the cost associated with carbon capture is estimated that a tax of $70-100 will be needed to per ton of CO2 to recover the costs (PUBS). Adding insult to injury, this is only the low end of the spectrum for costs. Other companies have estimated that the cost per ton could range as high as $120-140. This could potentially add upwards of $200 to the cost of MWh per coal pushing coal

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Pros And Cons Of Geoengineering