Wie solares Geoengineering die Wind- und Solarenergie verändern könnte

Solar geoengineering has been suggested as a [temporary measure to buy time](https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.2016.0454) for the emissions cuts needed to stabilise global temperatures.

These arguments have generally considered geoengineering as an independent component of the “toolbox” of options for climate change mitigation.

However, this perspective overlooks the knock-on effects that pursuing solar geoengineering could have on [reaching net-zero](https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-will-global-warming-stop-as-soon-as-net-zero-emissions-are-reached/).

The idea of [solar geoengineering](https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-six-ideas-to-limit-global-warming-with-solar-geoengineering/) is to reduce global temperatures by reflecting more of the sun’s incoming radiation away from the Earth’s surface. One of the most talked-about approaches is stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI), which involves the injection of aerosols in an upper layer of the atmosphere.

In a pair of studies, published in [Earth System Dynamics](https://esd.copernicus.org/articles/15/307/2024/) and [Earth’s Future](https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024EF004575), a team of scientists explore the potential impact that deploying SAI could have on the potential to generate wind and solar energy.

Their findings show that SAI could slow decarbonisation efforts by reducing the output of these energy systems. In this way, solar geoengineering could create an additional challenge to reaching net-zero, thus creating further obstacles for avoiding dangerous warming. 

Ah yes, spray shit directly into the atmosphere. Works out real well in the Matrix and Snowpiercer.