In general, STEP processes will be driven entirely by renewable energy sources, wind and wavepower. The components will be built by the developed nations, who have been the major CO 2 producers. The completed structures will be floated out to sea and anchored in a remote location, where they will work 24 hours per day to cleanse the atmosphere.

The industries needed to realise these schemes already exist; the technology is only a hands-breadth away.

While Lifestyle Change will address our future energy habits, what about the current and historical mess? Spaceship earth has for centuries been producing too much CO 2 and has just been throwing it into the atmosphere hoping it will go away..( which it will in geological time, but that's not much use to humanity). There is a natural system for balancing atmospheric CO 2 in the long-term. the deep oceans absorb the gas and convert it into solid carbonate sediments. in fact, half of the deep-sea floor is covered by pelagic sediments made up of calcareous oozes. In fact, by transferring CO 2 directly to the deep ocean in the form of hydrate crystals, the transient stage of dissolving in the surface waters is bypassed. This avoids the potentially catastrophic acidification of the upper marine environment, the early stages of which are already evident.

With the right measures we can shorten the timescale of this natural process to mitigate widespread climatic changes caused by a temporary excess of greenhouse gases.

There is ample geological evidence of this process at work, both in sequestering and releasing CO 2 . The advantage of this approach, rather than the permanent removal of CO 2 , is that it is available to be regenerated, in accordance with the natural balance system, over a period of 200 to 5000 years.

After this retention time, the deep ocean currents where we plan to put the CO 2 will release most of the gas again... but maybe by then, the clever boys will have cracked this new technology stuff and we'll all be riding fusion-powered bicycles. On the other hand, with a new ice-age due, maybe we'll need the extra CO 2 back again!

The Details - Environmental Impact Studies
For more detailed analysis of Environmental Impact of individual schemes, see each STEP study.

Some people would say that 'greenness' is built into science these days, but we would like to see an independent environmentalist evaluation of some of these schemes right from the start. Two heads are better than one, and constructive criticism a very positive driver.

What's the point in spending millions on research only to find the idea was fatally flawed from the outset?