"Chris Pak, lecturer in English Literature at Swansea University, explores the history of science fiction stories about terraforming, geoengineering, space and climate change. As COP26, the UN climate change conference in Glasgow, approaches Pak says authors of science fiction are consulted by organisations and governments to help us think about the risks and challenges of the future in ways inaccessible to other disciplines. He says we urgently need more of this imaginative impulse."

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"First this week, we're looking at new research schowing "Limited effects of tree planting on forest canopy cover and rural livelihoods in Northern India," and understanding why one researcher referred to the large-scale tree planting program in Northern India as a failure. We explain the significance of these research findings and the potential improvements necessary to ensure that tree planting achieves its stated goals of sequestering carbon dioxide, increasing biodiversity, and improving the livelihoods of local communities. Plus, a recent Twitter thread from German journalist Tin Fischer tells the story of a “Trillion Trees,” a figure that hardly held substance when first suggested, then took off in popular culture faster than climate scientists could shut it down. While it’s a catchy idea, the scientific paper used to support Trillion Trees in 2017 was widely critiqued for miscalculations and ultimately rescinded. We look at why this idea gained so much traction and what the realistic role of large-scale tree planting might be in drawing down carbon and addressing climate change. Finally, we put reforestation up against the portfolio of carbon removal solutions, looking at where it fits in and how it should be funded."

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van Schagen, T. N.; van der Wal, P. J.; Brilman, D.W.F. (2021): Development of a novel, through-flow microwave-based regenerator for sorbent-based direct air capture. In Chemical Engineering Journal Advances 42 (8), p. 100187. DOI: 10.1016/j.ceja.2021.100187.

"In this work an all-electric regenerator is developed for the desorption of CO₂ from air-capture sorbents using microwaves. An electromagnetic model was made for a continuous flow radial desorber and its dimensions were optimised for maximal microwave utilisation. Based on the optimal dimensions an actual prototype, capable of desorbing CO₂ from a commercial supported amine sorbent in fixed- or moving-bed configuration was built to demonstrate the concept and to study performance characteristics. TSA experiments using nitrogen as purge gas to produce enriched air (1 to 2 vol. % CO₂) were done. Productivities of up to 1.5 kg CO2/kgsorb./d were demonstrated, with a total energy duty of 25 MJ/kgCO2. Compared to traditional TVSA desorption, the energy duty is similar while the productivity is significantly higher. The process can be further improved by creating an even more homogeneous electric field (preventing hot spots in the regenerator) and by enabling desorption under vacuum conditions to produce pure CO₂. Overall, microwave desorption is demonstrated as an effective way to circumvent heat transfer limitations present during more traditional thermal desorption processes using polymeric sorbents."

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Haque, Fatima; Santos, Rafael M.; Chiang, Yi Wai (2021): Urban Farming with Enhanced Rock Weathering As a Prospective Climate Stabilization Wedge. In Environmental science & technology. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c04111.

"With no single carbon capture and sequestration solution able to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5–2.0 °C by 2100, additional climate stabilization measures are needed to complement current mitigation approaches. Urban farming presents an easy-to-adopt pathway toward carbon neutrality, unlocking extensive urban surface areas that can be leveraged to grow food while sequestering CO₂. Urban farming involves extensive surface areas, such as roofs, balconies, and vertical spaces, allowing for soil presence and atmospheric carbon sequestration through air-to-soil contact. In this viewpoint we also advocate the incorporation of enhanced rock weathering (ERW) into urban farming, providing a further opportunity for this recognized negative emissions technology that is gaining momentum worldwide to gain greater utilization."

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