Simple reflective panels to cool the climate.

[Wavey_Dave]

These special reflective panels could directly cool the planet.
Anyone out there able to pick holes in the principles or practicalities?  
           

Though do see my web site and FAQ first.[/u]

NB. I am freely publishing my ideas, (seen at http://www.wwn-oneworld.co.uk )
hence patent protection and copyright is not an issue.


The idea is simple, use thousands of cheap reflective panels placed in a small percentage of several deserts around the world.  These panels have been designed with knowledge of the harsh desert environment.

The concept is known to work, as we know snow and ice reflect the suns energy back into space.

Before approaching a governmental minister or the IPCC I am seeking to find out how many hectares of reflectors would be required to achieve say 1 degree cooling. Would it be 1% or 10% of the Sahara and other deserts of the world?  If of some reasonable percentage - then we have a solution to global warming, albeit not the co2 reduction mother earth would prefer.  

I have done some rudementary calculations showing that by
covering just 1% of the Sahara desert in reflective panels,  28,881 TWh per year can be radiated back into space.


My idea would not only counteract the effect of global warming but it would also slow or halt the expanding desserts that we see today, such as in the Sahara desert which has spread South a further 65 million hectares in the last 50 years.

Again see http://www.wwn-oneworld.co.uk for more and corespondance address.

Cheers
Dave

[Gerry Wolff]

Here's a better idea: capture the solar energy and use it to displace fossil fuels - read on.

A PDF or MS Word version of this press release, with pictures, can be
downloaded from www.trec-uk.org.uk/press.htm#press_release_1.

TRANS-MEDITERRANEAN RENEWABLE ENERGY COOPERATION (TREC)

Press Release

NEW REPORT SHOWS HOW EUROPE CAN MAKE DEEP CUTS IN CO2 EMISSIONS AND
PHASE OUT NUCLEAR POWER AT THE SAME TIME

Energy mix to include solar power from deserts

A new report, commissioned by the German Government (The German Federal
Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear
Safety (BMU)) shows in detail how Europe (including the UK and Ireland)
can meet all its needs for electricity, cut emissions of CO2 from
electricity generation by 70% by the year 2050, and phase out nuclear
power at the same time.

The key to this revolution in electricity supply is the
replacement of old polluting power plants that rely on dwindling
supplies of fuel with a larger range of non-polluting sources of
energy that will be good for thousands of years.

In the scenario described in the new 'TRANS-CSP' report, the need for
imported sources of energy will be reduced and this, coupled with the
increased range of sources of energy, will help to ensure the resilience
and security of energy supplies.

But an important part of the proposals in this report and the earlier
'MED-CSP' report is the development of a collaboration between countries
of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (EUMENA) to take
advantage of the truly monumental quantities of energy that fall as
sunlight on the world's hot deserts.

"Every year, each square kilometre of desert receives solar energy
equivalent to 1.5 million barrels of oil. Multiplying by the area of
deserts world-wide, this is nearly a thousand times the entire current
energy consumption of the world." said Dr Franz Trieb, Project Manager
for the two reports.

"We can tap in to this energy by using mirrors to concentrate sunlight
and create heat. The heat may be used to raise steam and drive a
generator in the conventional way. This kind of 'concentrating solar
power' (CSP) ? which is very different from the better-known
photovoltaic 'solar panels' ? has been producing electricity successfully
in California for nearly twenty years.

"The cost of collecting solar thermal energy equivalent to one barrel
of oil is about US$50 right now (already less than the current world
price of oil) and is likely to come down to around US$20 in future.

"Contrary to what is commonly supposed, it is entirely feasible and
cost-effective to transmit solar electricity over long distances. With
modern high-voltage DC transmission lines (HVDC), only about 3% of the
power is lost for each 1000 km. In round figures, this means that solar
electricity could be imported from North Africa to London with only
about 10% loss of power. This compares extremely favourably with
the 50% to 70% of losses that have been accepted for many years in
conventional coal-fired power stations.

"We have calculated that solar electricity imported to Europe would
be amongst the cheapest sources of electricity, and that includes the
cost of transmitting it. Supplies would be much less vulnerable to
interruption than are current imports of gas, oil and uranium."

Collaboration amongst countries of EUMENA would create substantial
benefits. For all the countries it would mean a plentiful supply of
inexpensive pollution-free electricity and the creation of jobs and
earnings in a large new industry.

For countries in North Africa and the Middle East it can also mean the
creation of fresh water by the desalination of sea water using the
waste heat from CSP. This can have a major impact in alleviating
shortages of fresh water in those regions, a problem that is likely
to be made worse by climate change, as highlighted recently by Sir
David King, Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government.

In addition, the areas under the solar mirrors of CSP plants are
relatively cool and protected from the harshness of direct tropical
sunlight?which means they can be useful for many purposes including
horticulture using desalinated sea water.

TRANS-MEDITERRANEAN RENEWABLE ENERGY COOPERATION (TREC)

NOTES FOR EDITORS

A PDF or MS Word version of this press release, with pictures, can be
downloaded from www.trec-uk.org.uk/press.htm#press_release_1.

The website of TREC is at www.trecers.net.

Copies of the TRANS-CSP and MED-CSP reports may be downloaded
from www.dlr.de/tt/trans-csp and www.dlr.de/tt/med-csp.

Further information, with links to other sources, is at
www.trec-uk.org.uk.

CONTACT

This press release has been issued on behalf of TREC by
Dr Gerry Wolff, 18 Penlon, Menai Bridge, Anglesey, LL59 5LR, UK.
Phone: +44 (0)1248 712962,
Web: www.trec-uk.org.uk.

[Wavey_Dave]

Yes ? excellent though we do not have time to avoid the catastrophe beyond biblical proportions (quote from BBC Global Dimming TV program.)   My solar reflectors should only be considered an elastoplast solution until renewable infrastructure such as TREC is implemented.  How long will that be? Governments, electricity generators and the insurance industry need to get their heads together now and see that the TREC scheme is an excellent and long-term solution.

[johnc]

Dave,

Could your reflective panel idea not be part of a roof on domestic and commercial buildings worldwide?

What sort of area would need to be covered to make a difference?

[retiredscientist]

I am no expert on deserts, but I believe that shifting sands, eg as dunes, and sand storms are common. These would need to be taken into account in placing reflectors.
I see notihng wrong with the principle.

A related idea has been proposed by Professor and was subject of an article in New Scientist 2-3 years ago and more recently on TV or radio (BBC). This is to generate a fine aerosol (minutes droplets which remain suspended in the air) from sea water, from specially designed sailing vessels. As the water evaporated minute salt particles would be formed and act as a screen, reflecting the sun's rays. A smallish number (less than 50 as I recall) of sailing vessels would do the job.

Both ideas sound entirely feasible.

[Gary Tulie]

     I believe the idea referred to by JohnC is that of Professor Salter of Edinburgh University, in which he proposed installing vertical axis wind turbines within areas like the Arabian Golf, the Red Sea, and between Baha California and the mainland.
     Unlike conventional turbines, these would act entirely as water pumps, producing an aerasol of sea water released around 100 meters above the sea. This aerasol would make use of solar energy captured from a large area around each turbine to flash evaporate the water spray, and desalinate it.
     Crystals of sea salt would then fall back onto the sea within around 5kM of the turbines, while the evaporated water would rise in the atmosphere generating clouds and creating rainfall across a large area. It is possible that the convection currents created by the process might provide further amplification. Rain would fall and evaporate repeatedly across the desert, increasing plant growth, improving the local climate for humal use, and capturing CO2.

[Shambles]

Erm...

I posted about the re-greening of the southern part of the Sahara in another thread.
It is better to use natural methods than artificial ones. Using technology is not the answer, if you spend huge amounts of money and fossil fuel energy on high tech reflectors, then why not spend smaller amounts on planting huge forrests in suitable locations to absorb CO2??

Hundreds of thousands of hectares of the Sahara have been re-greened by farmers using natural methods (protecting trees and planting new ones).
In fact not many trees have been planted! Over a period of 20 years, nature has taken its course and multiplied the effect, with much of the land now being farmed. (see last weeks New Scientist magazine, or the week before?)

Also i would point out that desserts are not 'dead' places. They have their own bio-system with animals and insects evolved to live in them.
Sticking reflectors or whatever in a dessert is just as damaging as cutting down a rain forrest.

Also desserts are already highly reflective.

So add all that up and any technology driven idea on such a massive scale is dumb and a typical solution that inevitably results in disaster, like the invention of the internal combustion engine!

[Wavey_Dave]

Dave here.   
Following the Stern report http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6098362.stm
something has to be done.  Yet I see talks after talks failing to make radical steps.
If CO2 is not cut substantially we should have to use the fine aerosol method or my reflectors.  Why is the world preparing for the nightmare that Stern predicts, when there are alternatives?

I also would like to see the deserts to be kept pristine though according to Oxfam in the last 50 years the Sahara has spread south to cover an extra 65 million hectares of land. The reflectors solution will give shade to farmed areas and hence would be a habitat for plant growth.

Desserts are not already highly reflective; they have an albedo of  0.2–0.4 whereas fresh snow is 0.9

As a result, desertification is kept in check, the local population have crops where they may not and reflectors attract a small ground rent paid for by first world countries.

And to answer John C
Installation of reflective paint or similar on domestic and commercial buildings worldwide, is not practical on existing buildings. Also the sun intensity is far less in the heavily populated parts of the world.

And to answer retiredscientist
 Could the reflectors be covered by drifting sand?
No my design is self cleaning. A combination of the angle of the reflectors and wind ensures that sand & dust does not settle.  Deserts contrary to popular belief are on average 70% gravel plains.  However, the design is such that it will not be affected by drifting sand or sandstorms.

Anyone know how to calculate the area that would be required? My guestimate is less than 10% of the deserts.

[puffedpride]

Paint all rooves white in hotter countries? Aren't many deserts already light colour and pretty reflective already?

(Counterproductive in colder climes, as houses need to absorb heat to reduce energy heating requirements in winter etc).

Pumping stuff into the atmosphere - my gut feeling is that this is playing with fire - goodness knows what unforseen knock on effects there are that might play havoc with our atmosphere/weather patterns etc

[ComradeScim]

I have a couple of thoughts over this...

1) sand storms, as someone already said.

2) weather conditions. If this amount of energy was reflected, perhaps land temperatures and then air temperatures over deserts would cool. What effect would this have on climate? Would winds push into desert, perhaps bringing clouds and rain with them? Clouds could then reflect the light anyway, reducing the effect of reflective panels, and divert much needed rain from other areas (not to mention reducing the reflection over these areas).

It's just a query, I don't know the answer (I'm not a climate scientist, after all!) and I could be completely wrong, but it's something tha thas to be considered IMO!

[Shambles]

The primary problem is greenhouse gases, to solve a problem for any long term period, you tackle the cause not the symptom.

[Gary Tulie]

     Shambles is right, as increasing CO2 in the atmosphere does more than cause global warming. Already corals are under threat from increasing acid levels in coastal sea water. This will get worse over time, with many alkaline habitats becoming acidic due to carbonic acid levels rising in rain (carbonic acid forms as rain absorbs CO2). Reflective panels might concievably reduce global warming, but at increased environmental costs in other areas. The other technological intervention proposed for reducing CO2 is to imcrease the growth of Plankton in Iron poor seas by sprinkling iron rich substances. Again at the risk of disturbing local balance.