Concerns About Geo-Engineering

Are you concerned about the future of our planet? You can have your say and listen to a top panel of experts debate how or even if we can halt or reverse damage created by greenhouse gases. The protection of the environment is now firmly a mainstream consideration in all our lives. Previous Great Debates have addressed energy and environmental issues: the need for alternative energy sources, and minimisation of environmental impacts. Engineers are currently examining geo-engineering as one of a number of ways to tackle climate change, There are five types of geo-engineering; ideas include removal of carbon dioxide from the earth's atmosphere with air-scrubbers, reflecting solar radiation back into space with space mirrors, artificial oceanic algal blooms to absorb carbon dioxide, mass re-forestation and artificial cloud cover. What are the challenges of geo-engineering, and does the “law of unintended consequences” mean that we may do more harm than good? This public debate, will bring together a leading panel of climate experts, focusing on geo-engineering and has been organised by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), the British Computer Society (BCS), the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) to highlight the urgency to act on climate change before it is too late. The Great Hall University of Reading London Road Campus Reading RG1 5AQ Organised by the IET Berkshire Network, IMechE, ICE, BCS and IChemE

Dr David Santillo Research Fellow in Bioscience Greenpeace Research Laboratories University of Exeter