Dispersion by planes
AMR will use small planes to bring ISA into the air. The planes will fly an 8-shaped course over subtropical oceans at around 2 – 4 km height. The exact parameters will depend on daily wind and weather conditions, which influence the particles’ atmospheric residence time. The parameters shown in the picture are a possible set, but the actual altitude and diameter of the course will vary. The transparent cube shows a possible size, but not the actual shape, of the air-room affected.
We estimate that ~50 planes will be needed to remove ~ 2/3 of all methane (1.2 ppm) from the atmosphere over a period of 20 years. Each plane will bring ~6.000 tons of ISA per year into the air, all in all it will be 200.000 – 300.000 tons. That’s a lot, but then again, it is very little. When you consider the fact that 596 Million tons of methane are released into the air each year (7) – 300.000 tons is like a grain of salt in the soup.
Hopefully it will be possible to reduce methane emissions and avoid some methane removal this way. It is always better to avoid emissions rather than let them happen and remove them later from the air. But we cannot count on that.
All of our current estimates need to be recalculated and refined by different scientists and universities, They are, at this stage, budgetary calculations based on very basic maths. Our plan needs refinement in the lab and modelling by atmospheric scientists. This will take at least all 2024, so do not expect any plane to start very soon.
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