That’s the idea eminent space scientist K Kasturirangan carried with him to the Planning Commission where he joined as a member on Monday. “There is a case for a national level study on the pros and cons of geo-engineering. An appropriate national team can be appointed for studying it from Indian perspective,” he said on the sidelines of a ministry of earth sciences function.
Geo-engineering is an emerging area of research that seeks to use global scale engineering to offset the effects of greenhouse gas emissions.
The former chairman of ISRO who resigned from the Rajya Sabha last month after serving the House for six years wanted a national debate on geo-engineering involving three Indian science academies.
A formal proposal may be mooted from the Ministry of Earth Sciences shortly to kickstart the initiative in the next six months to one year.
Because of ideas resembling science fiction, geo-engineering remains one of the most controversial but emerging areas of science research.
To begin with, the Indian initiative can look at the implication, cost and ethics of such experiments. “We may try limited controlled experiments,” Kasturirangan said.
White-roofing may be one such area. Since white paint will reflect the sunlight back to the atmosphere, it is at least a theoretical strategy — if applied on a fairly large scale — to help alleviate urban heat island effect, whereby cities are getting warmer than the surrounding countryside.
This, in turn, would, reduce the need for air-conditioning in cities and any associated carbon dioxide emissions.
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