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Large-Scale Intentional Interventions into the Climate System? Assessing the Climate Engineering Debate

Author(s): Rickels W, Klepper G, Dovern J, Betz G, Brachatzek N, Cacean S, Güssow K, Heintzenberg J, Hiller S, Hoose C, Leisner T, Oschlies A, Platt U, Proelß A, Renn O, Schäfer S, Zürn M

Published: December, 2011

Publisher: Kiel Earth Institute

Tags: Overview, Politics, Economics, Governance

URL: http://www.kiel-earth-institute.de/activities/research/scoping-study-climate-engineering

Abstract: Climate engineering – a collective term for large-scale technical interventions in the Earth‘s climate system – is increasingly discussed as an option to respond to anthropogenic climate change. Climate engineering technologies cover technologies both for the causative reduction of and the symptomatic compensation for anthropogenic climate change. The former are called carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies because they reduce CO2 in the atmosphere, the latter radiation management (RM) technologies because they directly influence radiation balance and therefore temperature. As the definition implies, any application of climate engineering has potentially global effects: climate and ecosystems would be changed across the world, affecting the environments of whole societies. For this reason, a purely scientific or economic analysis of the topic falls extremely short, precisely because climate engineering affects so many environmental media, societies and areas of human life.


Economic prospects of ocean iron fertilization in an international carbon market

Author(s): Rickels W, Rehdanz K, Oschlies A

Published: April, 2011

Publisher: Resource and Energy Economics

DOI: 10.1016/j.reseneeco.2011.04.003

Tags: Economics, Ocean Fertilization

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0928765511000261

Abstract: Staying within the 2 ° C temperature increase target for climate change requires for ambitious emission reduction targets for the 2012-2020 compliance period. Cost-efficiency is a crucial criterion for the achievement of such targets, requiring analyses of all possible options. Enhancing the oceanic carbon sink via ocean iron fertilization (OIF) provides such an option. Our analysis reveals that the critical unit costs per net ton of CO2 sequestered by OIF range from 22 to 28 USD (price level 2000) in a post-Kyoto compliance scenario. The critical unit costs are defined as those that would make an emitter indifferent between various abatement options. With reference to hypothetical short-term large-scale Southern Ocean OIF we are able to show that seven years of OIF provide a number of credits exceeding those obtainable from global forestation projects lasting 20 years. From an economic perspective, our results indicate that OIF can be considered a potentially viable carbon-removal option. However, further research is needed, especially on adverse side-effects and their ecological and economical consequences.


Ocean iron fertilization: Why further research is needed

Author(s): Güssow K, Proelss A, Oschlies A, Rehdanz K, Rickels W

Published: December, 2009

Publisher: Kiel Institute for the World Economy

Tags: Ocean Fertilization, Research

URL: http://ideas.repec.org/p/kie/kieliw/1574.html

Abstract: Despite large uncertainties in the fertilization efficiency, natural iron fertilization studies and some of the purposeful iron enrichment studies have demonstrated that Southern Ocean iron fertilization can lead to a significant export of carbon from the sea surface to the ocean interior. From an economic perspective the potential of OIF is far from negligible in relation to other abatement options. Comparing the range of cost estimates to the range of estimates for forestation projects they are in the same order of magnitude, but OIF could provide more carbon credits even if high discount rates are used to account for potential leakage and non-permanence. However, the uncertainty about undesired adverse effects of purposeful iron fertilization on marine ecosystems and biogeochemistry has led to attempts to ban commercial and, to some extent, scientific experiments aimed at a better understanding of the processes involved, effectively precluding further consideration of this mitigation option. As regards the perspective of public international law, the pertinent agreements dealing with the protection of the marine environment indicate that OIF is to be considered as lawful if and to the extent to which it represents legitimate scientific research. In this respect, the precautionary principle can be used to balance the risks arising out of scientific OIF activities for the marine environment with the potential advantages relevant to the objectives of the climate change regime. As scientific OIF experiments involve only comparatively small negative impacts within a limited marine area, further scientific research must be permitted to explore the carbon sequestration potential of OIF in order to either reject this concept or integrate it into the flexible mechanisms contained in the Kyoto Protocol


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