With few rules governing efforts to cool the planet, the world’s most well-funded solar geoengineering startup is proposing some of its own.
On Thursday, Stardust Solutions released guidelines for projects that aim to limit global warming by reflecting sunlight away from the Earth. The 14-page white paper called for researchers to use materials that are safe for humans and the environment, design systems that can be scaled up or down and develop precise monitoring tools.
The American-Israeli company said it hoped the proposal would “serve as a basis for further discussion and consideration.” Stardust also elaborated on its guiding principles, which it said would act “as a voluntary code of conduct guiding Stardust’s policies and activities.”
Stardust is seeking to develop a proprietary sunlight-reflecting particle, along with systems to spray and monitor millions of tons of the particles about a dozen miles above the Earth’s surface. But the company’s leaders have consistently said they would only allow that technology to be used if a national government decided it was safe and necessary to prevent extreme warming.
