Controversial geoengineering field test cancelled

A controversial geoengineering field test has been cancelled after the lead scientist learned of a patent on the technology held by several of his collaborators.

The Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering (SPICE) project, run by researchers at three UK universities, is investigating cooling the planet by releasing aerosol particles into the stratosphere. The field test would have tested the feasibility of the delivery system – a hose lofted by a balloon – by pumping out water spray at an altitude of 1 kilometre.

In October 2011 the field test was postponed for six months, after an oversight panel decided more public engagement was needed.

Now lead scientist Matthew Watson at the University of Bristol, has cancelled it altogether.

At issue was a patent on the technology, filed in 2009 by independent consultant engineer Peter Davidson. Watson only learned of the patent late last year.

Hugh Hunt at the University of Cambridge, who is also named on the patent, says it was not filed to make a profit motive, but to enable the engineers to retain control of their ideas. "We wouldn't want ExxonMobil or Shell to have control," he says.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, which is funding the project, told New Scientist that no result from the SPICE project will be patented: "The SPICE team is committed to putting all the results arising from the SPICE project into the public domain, without delay and according to normal academic practice."

Other geoengineering projects will not be affected, but the embarrassing circumstances of the cancellation may tarnish the field's reputation.




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