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Scientists say sprinkling diamond dust into the sky could offset almost all of climate change so far — but it'll cost $175 trillion [USD] (www.livescience.com)

submitted 2 days ago by FlyingSquid@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

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World GDP: $105.4 trillion USD

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[-] Buffalox@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I don't get it, why wouldn't sapphire dust work? Isn't that dirt cheap to make? And it's carbon free!
Seems illogical to add carbon in the form of diamond, to a problem that is mostly caused by carbon?

[-] sem 4 points 2 days ago

The carbon isn't the problem, it's the CO2 molecule. I would be really curious if solid carbon in diamond form is able to react with ozone in the atmosphere to make CO2, or if it would be inert, or if it would do something else.

[-] Buffalox@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

It's also Methane and CO, gasses that also contain carbon. I know diamond is pretty stable, but it does burn, and then it creates the gasses we try to avoid.

[-] naught101@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

CO is not a significant greenhouse gas. (And N20 is..)

Are diamond particulates likely to burn if they're dispersed in the atmosphere?

[-] Buffalox@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Are diamond particulates likely to burn if they’re dispersed in the atmosphere?

Actually yes, if they enter the engine of a plane they will burn.

[-] naught101@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

True. That would be a minescule fraction of what's there though..

[-] Buffalox@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Not quite minuscule, for every ton of jet fuel burned, 2 tons of oxygen is needed, to take that in, about 3-4 ton of atmospheric air goes through the combustion, the volume of that air is quite a lot, and is only sustained because oxygen is constantly renewed. The diamonds will not have self sustained renewal and will be burned up pretty quickly.
Also being an aerosol increases surface and potential chemical reactions by a magnitude of maybe a billion per unit, so although we consider diamonds to be very stable in their normal form, a diamond aerosol is obviously much less so, and UV light refracted could accelerate break down of the diamond aerosol, into free carbon, which will create carbon gasses. I bet researchers have considered this, but I see no numbers for it?

[-] Buffalox@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

I just wonder why not use sapphire dust instead. Doesn't it reflect sunlight almost identically?

[-] Infinite@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 days ago

No reactions, just reflections. The premise is "bounce the heat before it can be trapped."

The main reason they looked at diamond this time is because it's very clump resistant, which is a positive for heat deflection.

this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2024

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