The cost of stratospheric climate engineering revisited

Ryo Moriyama (), Masahiro Sugiyama (), Atsushi Kurosawa, Kooiti Masuda, Kazuhiro Tsuzuki and Yuki Ishimoto
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Ryo Moriyama: The Institute of Applied Energy
Masahiro Sugiyama: The University of Tokyo
Atsushi Kurosawa: The Institute of Applied Energy
Kooiti Masuda: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC)
Kazuhiro Tsuzuki: The Institute of Applied Energy
Yuki Ishimoto: The Institute of Applied Energy

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 2017, vol. 22, issue 8, No 5, 1207-1228

Abstract: Abstract Stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) has been receiving increasing attention as a possible option for climate engineering. Its direct cost is perceived to be low, which has implications for international governance of this emerging technology. Here, we critically synthesize previous estimates of the underlying parameters and examine the total costs of SAI. It is evident that there have been inconsistencies in some assumptions and the application of overly optimistic parameter values in previous studies, which have led to an overall underestimation of the cost of aircraft-based SAI with sulfate aerosols. The annual cost of SAI to achieve cooling of 2 W/m2 could reach US$10 billion with newly designed aircraft, which contrasts with the oft-quoted estimate of “a few billion dollars.” If existing aircraft were used, the cost would be expected to increase further. An SAI operation would be a large-scale engineering undertaking, possibly requiring a fleet of approximately 1,000 aircraft, because of the required high altitude of the injection. Therefore, because of its significance, a more thorough investigation of the engineering aspects of SAI and the associated uncertainties is warranted.

Keywords: Climate change; Cost analysis; Geoengineering; Global warming; Solar radiation management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11027-016-9723-y

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