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🇦🇺 Australia /Environment & Climate

Can reflecting the Sun buy time for net zero? A startup has raised $US75m to try

From ABC Australia · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • A US-Israeli startup, Stardust Solutions, has raised $75 million to develop and test solar geoengineering technology that aims to cool the planet by releasing reflective particles into the atmosphere.
  • While computer models suggest this method, known as solar radiation modification (SRM), could temporarily offset global heating, it carries risks for weather systems like the South Asian monsoon, on which billions depend.
  • Scientists and some governments, like India's, are calling for international regulation of SRM, as it does not remove greenhouse gases and would require continuous replenishment of particles, posing untested effects on weather systems.

A startup is poised to test a controversial climate intervention technology, aiming to reflect sunlight and cool the planet. Stardust Solutions, a US-Israeli firm, has secured over $75 million to develop engineered particles for solar geoengineering, a concept also known as solar radiation modification (SRM).

The technology mimics the cooling effect observed after large volcanic eruptions, which release particles into the stratosphere that reflect solar heat. However, scientists caution that SRM is not a substitute for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It would only mask the effects of global warming and require continuous replenishment of particles, carrying unknown risks for global weather systems.

There are risks if you use SRM [or] reject SRM and choose warming.

— Andy ParkerAndy Parker, who leads an NGO supporting SRM research in the developing world, discusses the risks associated with both using and rejecting solar geoengineering.

Concerns are particularly high for regions like South and Southeast Asia, where billions rely on the monsoon. India has already begun outlining plans to regulate SRM, becoming the first Asian nation to publicly address the technology. The decisions surrounding SRM are expected to unfold in the complex arena of geopolitics, rather than solely within academic circles.

The decisions around this are not going to be made in universities. They're going to be made in the messy real world of geopolitics.

— Andy ParkerAndy Parker highlights the geopolitical implications of solar geoengineering decisions.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Australia. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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