A Zero-Radiation Pressure Sunshade for Supporting Climate Change Mitigation

Abstract

Limiting climate change to within the 2 {\deg}C limit requires net zero emissions of CO2 by 2050. However, the window of opportunity is closing fast. Geoengineering as the intentional and large-scale manipulation of the environment and in particular the climate is increasingly discussed as a complement to ongoing mitigation efforts. As a particular geoengineering approach, space-based geoengineering blocks or dissipates a fraction of incoming sunlight via many occulting membranes, located close to the Sun-Earth Lagrange 1 point. However, the mass of the proposed sunshades, around $10^7$-$10^8$ tons, and their associated cost render them about $10^3$ times more costly than terrestrial alternatives. In this article, we propose a novel sunshade concept, which is between $10^2$ to $10^3$ times lighter than the lightest existing sunshade concepts. This is achieved via a net zero-radiation pressure design, based on the use of diffractive metamaterials, removing one of the major constraints to reducing sunshade mass. The whole sunshade system has a total mass of approximately $6.2 \times 10^5$ tons and its deployment requires between $10^2$ to $10^3$ annual launches during a ten-year period. The achieved cost reduction might render space-based geoengineering competitive to terrestrial geoengineering approaches.