CLEAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY MIDTERM EXAM PREPARATION

• Clean energy technology is any process, product, or service that reduces negative environmental
impacts through significant energy efficiency improvements, sustainable use of resources and
environmental protection activities. It includes a broad range of technology related
to recycling, renewable energy, green transportation, green chemistry, sustainable engineering etc.
• Clean energy/renewable energy/green energy is energy that is produced through means that do
not pollute the atmosphere.

• Carbon is one of the most abundant elements on the Earth‘s crust and important molecule in the
carbon cycle, all life is based on the element carbon. Proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, carbohydrates,
and other molecules essential to life contain carbon. Movement of carbon between atmosphere,
living organisms (in land and water) and ground.
• The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among
the biosphere and geosphere. It describes the movement of carbon as it is recycled and reused
throughout the biosphere, as well as long-term processes of carbon sequestration to and release
from carbon sinks. The components are atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and
cryosphere. It can be divided into two, biogenic (fast domain) and geological (slow domain).
- Biogenic carbon cycle is the set of processes in the general carbon cycle where
natural carbon emissions related to biologically-based materials are involved (biosphere,
atmosphere and hydrosphere).
- Geological carbon is where it interacts with the lithosphere in the processes of weathering,
dissolution, precipitation of minerals in rocks.
Processes in the carbon cycle are photosynthesis, respiration, combustion, decomposition,
compaction, and erosion.
- Photosynthesis -> during this process plants, algae, and cyanobacteria remove Carbon
dioxide from the air and fix, or incorporate it into complex organic compounds such as
glucose.
CARBON MOVES FROM ATMOSPHERE TO PLANTS.
- Respiration -> C is utilized in cellular respiration by consumer (animals) and a decomposer
(microbes) that breaks down the remains of the producer and consumer by aerobic and
anaerobic respiration, fermentation etc.
CARBON MOVES FROM ANIMALS TO ATMOSPHERE.
- Combustion (human & natural) -> organic molecules are rapidly oxidized (combined with
oxygen) and converted CO2 and water with an accompanying release of light and heat.
CARBON MOVES FROM FOSSIL FUELS TO THE ATMOSPHERE.
- Decomposition (fossil fuel formation) -> Millions of years ago vast coal, beds formed from
the remains of partially decomposed dead plants and animals that were buried and subjected
to anaerobic conditions. The oils of unicellular marine organisms probably gave rise to the
underground deposits of oil and natural gas that accumulated in the geologic past. Coal, oil,
and natural gas, called fossil fuels because they formed from the remains of ancient
organisms. Fossil fuels are non- renewable resources.
 CARBON MOVES FROM PLANTS AND ANIMALS TO THE GROUND.
- Burial and compaction (limestone formation) -> An even greater amount of carbon that is
stored for millions of years is incorporated into the shells of marine organisms. When these
organisms die, their shells sink to the ocean floor and sediments cover them forming
cemented together to form limestone, a meter thick.
CARBON MOVES FROM ORGANISMS TO OCEAN.
- Rock weathering and erosion -> When the process of geologic uplift exposes rocks,
physical weathering processes, chemical weathering processes and biological weathering
processes. Erosion carries the weathered rock particles to rivers and oceans. This returns
carbon to the water and atmosphere where it is available to participate in the carbon cycle
once again.
CARBON MOVES FROM GROUND TO WATER AND ATMOSPHERE.
Anthropogenic influence -> The largest human impact is through direct burning fossil fuels, which
transfers carbon from the geosphere into the atmosphere. The rest of increase is caused by changes in
land-use, Deforestation- replacing trees with plants will reduce carbon uptake. Direct and indirect
human-caused land use and land cover change has led to the loss of biodiversity, which lowers carbon
uptake and direct release into the atmosphere.  Air pollution, for example, damages plants and soils,
while many agricultural and land use practices lead to higher erosion rates, washing carbon out of
soils and decreasing plant productivity.

 A fossil fuel is a fuel formed by natural processes, such as anaerobic decomposition of buried

dead organisms, containing organic molecules originating from ancient photosynthesis that
released energy in combustion. There are three primary varieties of fossil fuels. These are coal,
oil, and natural gas and their common derivative is kerosene.
 Coal is a carbon-rich material and is one of the most important fossil fuels. It is
a combustible black or brown-black sedimentary rock and is mostly carbon with variable amounts
of other elements like hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. The three main types of coal are
anthracite, bituminous and lignite. Anthracite coal is the hardest and has more carbon. Lignite is
the softest and is low in carbon but high in hydrogen and oxygen content. Bituminous is mediocre
anthracite and lignite. Stages of coal formation
- Peat is a fibrous, soft, spongy substance in which plant remains are present. It contains a large
amount of water.
- Lignite is formed when peat is subjected to increased vertical pressure from accumulating
sediments.
- Bituminous Coal is greatly used in industry as a source of heat energy.
- Anthracite is also known as "hard coal" and is hard with a high luster.
 Crude oil is distilled to get Fuel oil. It is one of the most popular and commercial fuels. It has
extremely many as for heating and transportation. Types of oil: Diesel, Gasoline, Kerosene,
Naphtha.
 Natural gas (NG) is a naturally produced hydrocarbon gas under the ground in rock formations.
It is used as a source of energy for heating, cooking, and electricity generation. It is also used as
 fuel for vehicles and as a chemical for plastics and other commercially important organic
materials.
 Some uses of fossil fuels nowadays are: heating, combustible liquids for means of transportation,
power and electricity plants, medicines, cosmetics, plastics, synthetic fabrics, and lubricants.
 The impact of fossil fuels on human health are Fossil-fuel burning contributes to the build-up of
carbon dioxide. In the atmosphere, this CO 2 can trap the sun’s heat, leading to global warming. A
number of recent studies have linked hotter air temperature increase with diseases of the lungs
and heart. Exposure to air pollution can induce behavior problems and learning difficulties,
breathing diseases, lower a child’s IQ or lead to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and
premature death.
 Advantages of fossil fuels: a cheap source of energy, reliability, abundance, useful by-products,
able to generate electricity in a short time, accessible and very easy to find, very efficient and
useful in daily life, power stations can be constructed in almost any location.
 Disadvantages of fossil fuels: pollution of all forms, non-renewable, dangerous to produce,
mining disasters will happen and will take a lot of many lives and property, refinery and oil rig
explosions, the danger of the noxious gases that are liable to be released.
 The Industrial Revolution was the converting to new manufacturing procedures in the period
from 1760 to1820 and 1840. This transition included: from hand production methods to machines,
new chemical manufacturing processes, improved efficiency of water power, the development of
machine tools and the rise of the factory system.
 Positive impacts of industrial revolution: Products were produced a lot easier and faster, with
machines the production was rapidly increased and as a result a lot of products were produced in a
short amount of time, prices of products went down because by then the construction process was
very simple, mass production also lead to an increased supply of goods, more accessibility to a
product, the labor needs gave the opportunity to many people to have an income. So, this
improved the standards of living.
 Negative impacts of industrial revolution: working in a factory is something unpleasant for the
people, long working hours without breaks, working under pressure and difficult conditions
without the necessary hygiene, machinery was unsafe, factories were unhealthy places and that is
the reason why many people were infected, there was little compensation for health injuries and
illnesses, smoke was produced by the factory and the ultimate result was air pollution and the
existence of many illnesses.
 Pollution is the presence in or introduction into the environment of a substance which has
harmful or poisonous effects. It can be chemicals or energy, such as noise heat or light pollutants,
the components of pollution can be either, foreign substances or naturally occurring contaminants.
It can be physical, chemical or biological change and it causes serious damage to environment.
 Pollutant is a substance which adversely alters the environment by changing the growth rate of
species, interferes with the food chain and health, is toxic to all living organisms.
 Major types of pollution: air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, and noise pollution.
- Air pollution is the introduction of particles, biological molecules, or other harmful gases
into earth’s atmosphere, causing harmful diseases and death to humans and other living

organisms, food crops. Air pollution can be anthropogenic or natural. They are in the form of
gases, particulate matter (dust, smoke, fumes).
- Land pollution/soil pollution can be defined as the changes in physical, chemical and

biological conditions of the soil or land through man’s intervention or misuse of land. It is
the deterioration of the earth's land surfaces, often directly or indirectly as a result of man’s

activities and their misuse of land resources. It occurs when waste is not disposed of
 properly, or can occur when humans throw chemicals unto soil in the form of pesticides.
Biodegradable wastes for example are vegetable, food, tea leaves, egg shells, dry leaves
waste. Non-biodegradable waste for example are polythene bags, glass bottles, scrap metal,
electronic waste, tins, cans, etc. Waste management methods: composting, sanitary landfill,
incineration, and current trends of 4R’s. Waste management hierarchy: reduce, reuse,
recycle/compost, recover, and disposal.
- Noise pollution is the disturbing or excessive noise that may harm the activity or balance of
human or animal life. Sources: transportation systems are the main source of noise pollution
in urban areas, construction of buildings, highways, and streets cause a lot of noise, due to the
usage of air compressors, bulldozers, loaders, dump trucks, and pavement breakers, industrial
noise also adds to the already unfavorable state of noise pollution, loud speakers, plumbing,
boilers, generators, air conditioners, fans, and vacuum cleaners add to the existing noise

pollution. Health effects: can damage physiological and psychological health can damage
physiological and psychological health, high blood pressure, stress related illness, sleep
disruption, hearing loss, and productivity loss are the problems related to noise pollution,
memory loss, severe depression, and panic attacks. Solutions: planting bushes and trees in and
around sound generating sources, regular servicing and tuning of automobiles, buildings
designed with noise absorbing material for the walls, windows, and ceilings, workers should
be provided with equipment such as ear plugs and earmuffs for hearing protection, regulations
should be imposed to restrict the usage of play loudspeakers in crowded areas and public
places, factories and industries should be located far from the residential areas, social
awareness programs should be taken up to educate the public about the causes and effects of
noise pollution.
- Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies directly or indirectly with wastewater
without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds. In almost all the cases the effect
is damaging not only to individual species and population but also to the natural biological
communities. Causes of water pollution: human dumping, industrial waste release, farm
pollution, improper drainage system, groundwater contamination, plastic waste, fisheries,
leakage of fossil fuels. Types of water pollution: surface water pollution and ground water
pollution. Causes of water pollution:
a. Industrial waste -> the waste produced by industrial activity which includes any material
that is rendered useless during a manufacturing process such as that of factories,
industries, mills, and mining operations.
b. Marine dumping -> the garbage from household in the form of paper, plastic, food if
collected and deposited in sea.
c. Marine oil spills -> oil spill pose a huge concern as large amount of oil enters into the sea
and does not dissolve with water; there by opens problem for local marine wildlife such
as fish, birds and sea otters.
d. Urbanization -> population growth, demand for housing, food and cloth. As more cities
and towns are developed, they have resulted in increased use of fertilizers to produce,
increase in construction activities, inadequate sewer collection and treatment, landfills as
more garbage are produced, increase in chemicals.
e. Animal waste -> the waste produce by animals is washed away into the rivers when it
rains. It gets mixed up with other harmful chemicals and causes various water borne
diseases like cholera, diarrhea, jaundice, dysentery and typhoid.
Effect of water pollution are effect of organic pollution on water quality, death of aquatic
animals, diseases, destruction of ecosystems. Prevention: sewage treatments, prevent river
water to get polluted, and routine cleaning.
 Renewable energy resource is an essentially inexhaustible energy resource and are natural
sources or processes that are constantly replenished.

 Sustainable energy refers to generating energy with an awareness of the future, i.e., in a way that
would enable future generations to meet their energy needs too. The concept is related not only to
renewables, but also to energy efficiency.
 The reasons we need renewable energy -> renewable energy reduces anthropogenic CO 2 in the
atmosphere and oceans, thus preventing climate change.
- Climate change mitigation: a huge global concern and with an ever-increasing energy
demand, especially in newly industrialized countries to find sustainable energy sources.
- Global warming: this occurs when CO2 and other greenhouse gases accumulate in the
atmosphere and absorb sunlight and solar radiation that have bounced off the Earth’s surface.
Normally, this radiation would escape into space but these pollutants in the atmosphere, trap
the heat and cause the planet to get hotter. This is called the greenhouse effect.
- Ocean acidification: CO2 reacts with ocean water to produce carbonic acid, making it acidic.
This acidic water is dangerous to all aquatic life.
- Sea level rise: 3.2mm each year – due to melting ice sheets and thermal expansion of water.
- Ice sheet mass: Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets decreasing by 413 gigatons each year.
Arctic ice - decreasing by 13% each decade.
- Glacier retreats: glaciers are retreating around the world particularly in the Alps, Himalayas,
Andes, Rockies, Alaska and Africa.
 Wind energy built to harness wind energy (kinetic energy). When the wind blows, the blades
move and spin a turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity. Problems: large,
remote, windy sites are needed. Winds are variable.
 Solar energy can be used directly for heating and lighting homes and other buildings, for
generating electricity, and for hot water heating, solar cooling, and a variety of commercial and
industrial uses. Thermal solar panels are used to generate heat energy. Photovoltaic (PV) cells
 or Solar cells turn sunlight directly into electricity and batteries store them for future purposes.
Problem: variable amount of sunshine.
Solar thermal plant -> sunlight is collected and focused on oil-filled pipes that run through the
middle of curved solar collectors. Advantages: can generate temperature high enough for
industrial processes, can supply back-up electricity, and cheaper than nuclear. Disadvantages:
central receivers are expensive to operate.
 Geothermal energy uses the steam from underground springs or streams that are produced from
water that is pumped down to hot rocks deep underground as a prime mover that turns a steam
turbine connected to the shaft of a generator. Problems: drilling is expensive and difficult. Deep
hot waters are corrosive and it is good to inject clean water in a closed system and bring it back to
the surface as steam.
 Hydro energy use generator that uses falling water as the prime mover to turn the generator shaft
that provides the mechanical energy which is later converted to electrical energy. Problems:
expensive to build, few areas of the world are suitable.
 Bioenergy is energy derived from biomass and biogas source. Biomass may be used directly as a
fuel or processed into liquids and gases.
Biofuels -> either directly from plants or from waste.
Bioethanol -> used as fuel and as a petrol additive to increase octane and lower carbon emissions.
Biodiesel -> used as fuel and used to reduce levels of particulates and carbon monoxide in diesel
powered vehicles.
 Advantages of green energy: renewable energy won’t run out, maintenance requirements are
lower, renewables save money, renewable energy has numerous health and environmental
benefits, and renewables lower reliance on foreign energy sources.
 Disadvantages of green energy: higher upfront cost, intermittency, storage capabilities, and
geographic limitations.
But OVERALL Renewable energy has more benefits than drawbacks. When it comes to
renewable energy, the positives outweigh the negatives. Transitioning to renewables on a
personal, corporate, or governmental level will not only help you save money but also promote a
cleaner, healthier environment for the future.
 Carbon sequestration (CS) also known as Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR), carbon capture
and storage (CCS) are process by which carbon-rich gases are absorbed from the atmosphere,
converted into other products in plants, soil, oceans, or geological formations. CS is the long-term
storage of carbon in plants, soils, geologic formations, and oceans. It occurs both naturally and as
a result of anthropogenic activities and typically refers to the storage of carbon that has the

immediate potential to become carbon dioxide gas. It has been proposed as a way to slow the
down GHG emissions and global warming.
 Carbon sinks is any natural reservoir that absorbs more carbon than it releases, and thereby
lowers the concentration of CO2 from the atmosphere. They absorb more carbon than they release
as carbon dioxide. This temporary CO2 reduction is called Negative Emissions. Increase in
atmospheric CO2 means increase in global temperature. The amount of CO 2 varies naturally in a
dynamic equilibrium with photosynthesis of land plants. The natural sinks are:
- Soil and rocks are the Earth's greatest carbon store and active carbon sink
- Photosynthesis by terrestrial plants aids negative emissions.
- Absorption CO2 by the oceans via physicochemical and biological processes.
 45% of CO2 stays in the atmosphere, the rest is sequestered naturally by the environment, 25% of
our carbon emissions have historically been captured by Earth’s forests, farms and grasslands,
30% of CO2 we emit from burning fossil fuels is absorbed by the upper layer of the ocean.
 Two basic types of Carbon Sequestration (CS) are:
 - Natural/bio sequestration is a cycle that's been happening on this planet for billions of
years. Process by which nature has achieved a balance of CO 2 in atmosphere suitable for

sustaining life. Nature provided trees (biological), the oceans (physical), earth (rocks and
sediments).
- Artificial is the process of removing CO 2 from the atmosphere and depositing it in a
reservoir. This is an artificial process and referred to as CO2 removal, which is a subsection of
Climate engineering/Geo Engineering. Anthropogenic activities have thrown the earth's
carbon dioxide sinks out of balance- Ocean acidification, Afforestation is rapid. Instead of
rapidly discontinuing their usage, researchers are trying to find other ways of defeating
Nature to allow us to continue with our lifestyles; or helping it deal with the excess CO 2 we
produce.
Artificial CS refers to a number of processes where carbon emissions are captured at the point of
product and then buried. Proposed methods are of 4 types: terrestrial sequestration (biological),
ocean sequestration (physical), geological sequestration (chemical), and chemical sequestration
(chemical).
a. Terrestrial sequestration -> The artificial CS practices that duplicate Natural Bio
sequestration are called Terrestrial Sequestration methods, for examples peatlands, forestry,
urban forestry or lungs of a city, wetland restoration (swamps, marshes, mangroves),
agricultural sequestration or carbon farming, and biochar burial.
b. Ocean sequestration -> where CO2 is dumped in oceans by enhancing growth of
phytoplankton and sea weeds to increase photosynthesis (natural aquatic photosynthesis
process). For examples ocean iron fertilization, urea fertilization, mixing layers, seaweed
farming, and direct injection.
c. Geological sequestration -> is the storage of CO2 underground in depleted oil and gas
reservoirs, saline formations, or deep, un-minable coal beds (mimicking natural fossil fuel
formations). After CO2 capture from gas or coal-fired power plant, it will be compressed to
fluid and transported by pipelines to the storage place. Then will be injected deep
underground, typically around 1 km, where it would be stable for hundreds to millions of
years. Methods are oil and gas reservoirs, deep saline formations, and un-mineable coal
seams.
Hard-to-get-oil -> Pressure of injecting CO2 dislodges oil trapped in the pores of
underground rock called hard-to-get oil and CO 2 presence reduces the friction impeding the
flow of oil through the rock to wells.
d. Chemical sequestration ->CO2 can be removed from the atmosphere by chemical processes,
and stored in stable carbonate mineral forms (mimicking natural limestone formation
process). This artificial process is known as mineral sequestration.
Some global projects using carbon sequestration are Sleipner (1996) in Oslo, Dakota Gasification
Company (2000) in North Dakota, Boundary Dam 3 (2015) in Canada, Quest (2015) in Canada,
etc.
 Advantages of CS: carbon sequestration prevents climate change by removing excess amounts of
CO2 from the air, the gas can be easily liquefied and transported by pipelines, which makes deep
injection convenient, along with removing excess pollutants from the air, deep injection of carbon
dioxide also enhances extraction of fuels like oil and methane from their deposits, significant
awareness about the importance of trees, increased emphasis for green technology
implementation, still, it may be possible to reduce emissions by 80 to 85%, using carbon
sequestration even while using fossil fuels, and there are no reports yet of carbon dioxide leaking
out from where it was injected.
 Disadvantages of CS: carbon sequestration is an expensive method with unknown long-term
effects, and implementing it in power plants requires 40% more coal, if the injected gas leaks out
because of structural faults in the geological formation it can be fatal, the process of trapping and
 liquefying CO2 from power plant emissions requires significant electrical power and is expensive,
the high amounts of CO2 injected into the ocean will turn it acidic, endangering aquatic life, trees
planted to absorb and store carbon from the atmosphere need sufficient time to mature, there may
not be enough geological reservoirs available or accessible for sequestering carbon, and because
carbon sequestration allows the use of fossil fuels, it may divert government funding from
cleaner, environment-friendly technologies.
 Major problems with geological sequestration are: CO 2 may rise as it is less dense into a rock gap
and spread into fault planes near the injection zone and may migrate to the surface, leaking into
the atmosphere, this will be dangerous to life in the surrounding area, another danger is induced
seismicity as the injection of CO2 may create high underground pressures causing an earthquake,
and while trapped in a rock formation, CO 2 can be in the supercritical fluid phase or dissolve in
groundwater thus causing serious water pollution.
 Chemistry is a science that deals with the composition and properties of all substances and the
chemical changes they undergo. Green chemistry, also called clean chemistry and sustainable
chemistry, is an area of chemistry focused on the design of products and processes that minimize
or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. This is done by reducing
consumption of nonrenewable resources and technological approaches for preventing pollution.
 Five goals of green chemistry are: to design alternative synthetic chemical pathways for
chemicals which do not produce toxic by-products or co-products, to develop degradable products
and recycle and reuse useful chemicals and materials till they become less toxic to health and the
environment, to develop processes based on renewable rather than non-renewable raw materials,
to safely dispose harmful chemicals if used in emergency situations, in-depth knowledge and
long-term thinking about chemicals and their effects, and to educate and create awareness about
Green chemistry and its importance among people, especially the younger generation.
 Twelve principles of green chemistry are: prevention, atom economy, less hazardous chemical
syntheses, designing safer chemicals, intermediary substances should be avoided wherever
possible, design for energy efficiency, use of renewable feedstock, reduce derivatives, catalysis,
design for degradation, real-time analysis for pollution prevention, and inherently safer chemistry
for accident prevention.
 Prevent waste -> This principle is the most important and the other principles are about “how to”
achieve it.

 Atom economy -> means that during chemical synthesis every atom should be used. Mechanisms
should completely convert raw material to products, thus reducing waste.
 Less hazardous chemicals -> synthetic methods should be designed to use and generate
substances that possess little or no toxicity to human health and the environment.
 Use safer chemicals -> the object is to choose solvents that make sense chemically, reduce the
energy requirements, least toxicity, have no environmental impacts.
 Energy efficiency -> energy requirements should be recognized for their environmental and
economic impacts and should be minimized. Synthetic methods should be conducted at ambient
temperature and pressure with reducing the number of synthesis steps.
 Renewable feed stock -> usage of alternative renewable energy sources instead of fossil fuels,
 Produce biodegradable products -> chemical products should be designed so that at the end of
their function they break down into harmless products and do not persist in the environment.
Example: Bioplastics.
 Minimize accidents -> safety can be defined as the control of recognized hazards to achieve an
acceptable level of risk, this is also known as the “Safety Principle”. Substances and the form of a
substance used in a chemical process should be chosen to minimize the potential for chemical
accidents, including releases, explosions, and fires.
 Chemistry is undeniably a very prominent part of our daily lives. Green chemistry is an
extremely important area of Chemistry due to its global importance and the implications it can
show on our environment.
 Some past chemical accidents: The Cuyahoga river fire (1969), The Bhopal Disaster (Dec 3,
1984).
 Examples of sustainable products/bio-based products: roof coatings, bio foam insulators, bio
paints, bioplastics, automobile parts, etc.
 Geo engineering/climate engineering and is the artificial, intentional, large scale manipulation
of the environment (sometimes mimics the natural processes) with the aim of mitigating the
adverse effects of the changes in Earth’s atmosphere like Climate change and Global Warming.
They are research projects designed to tackle the effects of climate change directly, usually by
limiting the amount of sunlight reaching the planet's surface or removing carbon emissions from
the air. It mainly takes 2 forms: temperature management and carbon management.
 Categories of geo engineering: Solar Radiation Management (SRM), Earth Radiation
Management (ERM), and Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR).
 Solar Radiation Management (SRM) techniques that aim to reflect a small proportion of the
Sun’s energy back into space, counteracting the temperature rise caused by increased levels of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that absorb energy and raise temperatures. 3 types of SRM:
atmospheric, terrestrial, and space based.
- Atmospheric SRM
a. Stratospheric aerosol injection -> Injecting reflective aerosols into the stratosphere
(second layer of atmosphere from 10-30 km) can reflect the sunlight back thus reducing
the atmospheric temperature. Sulfates are the most commonly proposed aerosols for
climate engineering- naturally present in volcanic eruptions. Volcanic eruptions inject
large amounts of sulfur dioxide gas into the stratosphere, which form sulfate aerosol
and cool the planet can by aircrafts or balloons.
b. Artificial rain -> Principle of artificially inducing rainfall or reducing global warming.
According to the cloud properties, airplanes sow the clouds with dry ice, silver iodide and
salt powder to increase precipitation. This is done mitigate drought, to increase reservoir
irrigation water or water supply capacity.
c. Marine cloud brightening -> Would make clouds brighter, reflecting a small fraction
of incoming sunlight back into space in order to offset anthropogenic global warming.
Various cloud reflectivity methods like spraying seawater in the atmosphere to increase
the reflectivity of clouds. The cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) or cloud seeds. Sea salt
is an excellent natural CCN like pollen, dust, carbon). This will change the size
distribution of the drops in existing clouds to make them whiter and more reflective for
radiation from the Earth.
- Terrestrial SRM -> cool roof, reflective sheeting, ice protection, and forestry.
- Space based SRM
a. Space mirrors -> Can reflect a percentage of solar sunlight into space, using
mirrors orbiting around the Earth.
b. Moon dust -> Moon dust or Moon soil is fine powder, like glass with sharp edges.
Mining moon dust to create a shielding cloud.
c. Dispersive solutions -> Several authors have proposed dispersing light before it reaches
the Earth by putting a very large thin wire mesh or lens in space at the L1 point between
the Earth and the Sun.
 Earth Radiation Management (ERM)/weather engineering -> Geo engineering techniques
followed to increase the expelling of heat from the Earth to the atmosphere by clouds (Earth
cooling). Done by injecting Bismuth triiodide (Ice nucleating particle) into the cirrus clouds to
thin down the ice inside them and allowing more heat to escape into space and thereby cool the
planet. The only process proposed for ERM is Cirrus Cloud Thinning. 3 types of clouds:
- HL clouds (cirrus clouds)- 5-13 km
- ML clouds (nimbus clouds)- 2-7 km
- LL clouds (cumulonimbus)- 0-2 km
 Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR)/carbon sequestration -> techniques that aim to remove
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, directly countering the increased greenhouse effect and
ocean acidification.
 Other types of geoengineering: Arctic geoengineering -> Arctic will be free of summer sea ice
sometime between 2059 and 2078 as it is melting fast but re-freezing is slow due to climate
changes.

 Geoengineering process:

 Advantages of geoengineering:
- Offers hope of temporarily reversing some aspects of global warming and allowing the
natural climate to be substantially preserved GHGs are brought under control and removed
from the atmosphere by natural or artificial processes.
- Slows down global warming, climate change, ocean acidification
- May be expensive, but considering the damage to Earth due to global disasters, this is
affordable.
 Disadvantages of geoengineering:
- Some processes are relatively cheap and the cooling effect could start within weeks of the
injection process as in aerosols.
- But the stratospheric sulfates will damage the ozone layer resulting in more skin cancer and
damage to plants and animals.
- The scattering of sunlight will disrupt monsoonal rain cycles.
- Today's proposals for geoengineering are likely to have an impact because they may
sometimes not stop the CO2 buildup or lessen all its harmful impacts
- The earth's climate is largely driven by the fine balance between the light energy with which
the sun bathes the earth and the heat that the earth radiates back to space.
- Increasing the reflectivity of the planet by about one percentage point could have an effect on
the climate system large enough than global warming and may also result in doubling of the
amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.
- Will raise ethical, religious questions of whether humans have the right to change the climate
deliberately, and under what conditions like Playing God or Insulting Nature.