Geoengineering experiment cancelled due to perceived conflict of interest
Source: The Guardian
Geoengineering experiment cancelled due to perceived conflict of interest
Erin Hale
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 16 May 2012 14.13 BST
A controversial geoengineering experiment to simulate the cooling effect of volcanoes has been cancelled due to concern over a perceived conflict of interest with some of the researchers.
The experiment would have injected 150 litres of water into the atmosphere from a weather balloon via a 1km pipe tethered to a ship as part of the Spice project (Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering).
Matthew Watson, a scientist at Bristol University and the principal investigator of Spice, told Nature magazine that two scientists involved in the project had not been initially forthcoming that they had submitted patents for technology similar to that used in the project before Spice was proposed.
This revelation caused some concern among the scientists involved, leading to the decision to axe the field-test, though they decided the lab-based element of the project should continue. Watson said other concerns had been raised about the lack of government regulation of geoengineering projects.
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Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/may/16/geoengineering-experiment-cancelled