"Planetary waste disposal"

Expert: CO2 vacuum cleaners could cool the earth

(Bild: RicoK)

The director of the renowned Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) believes it is possible to artificially cool the Earth in the second half of the century in the fight against climate change. "There is an opportunity to reverse the trend of global warming by - in addition to rapidly reducing emissions towards zero - also focusing on CO2 removal from the atmosphere," PIK Director Ottmar Edenhofer told the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung".

One tool for this is the so-called CO2 vacuum cleaners, i.e. large filter systems. They suck in air, extract climate gas, which is then fed into the earth's crust and turned into stone, Edenhofer explained. "There are also other possibilities, such as the cultivation of fast-growing biomass for combustion with CO2 capture or the application of crushed minerals to soils to accelerate weathering," the climate researcher added in the Sunday edition of the newspaper. "I am convinced that CO2 capture and storage can still save us from the very worst."

Ottmar Edenhofer

(Bild: APA/AFP)

Expert believes industrialized countries have a duty
Edenhofer therefore urged the Western world to develop an industry for CO2 capture and storage. "We can supplement European emissions trading with trading in certificates for CO2 capture and storage," he said. "I also see the industrialized countries as having a moral duty here. Our emissions from the past have caused the world's climate problems, and the damage is most serious in the Global South," the scientist explained. "If we reduce temperatures again by removing CO2, that would only be fair. We can and should create a large-scale planetary waste collection system to take the crap out of the atmosphere that we have dumped into it."

However, the PIK Director emphasized that there is only a real chance of overcoming the climate crisis if emissions are really reduced to almost zero. "If this does not succeed, and if we do not manage to remove huge amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere in the second half of the century, then we will have to come to terms with an Earth that is hostile to humanity in many regions," warned Edenhofer.

"No more doubt" about fatal consequences
The pace set by politicians is far from right. "The 1.5-degree target has become unattainable by direct means; it can probably only be achieved via an 'overshoot' with subsequent backtracking," said the PIK Director. "Without a more ambitious climate policy, the world is heading for warming of around three degrees by the end of the century. The consequences - including for Europe - would simply be fatal. The state of knowledge no longer leaves any doubt about this."