\u201cWater\u2019s becoming very valuable and more and more scarce,\u201d said Dan Martin, a research engineer with Department of Agriculture\u2019s Agricultural Research Service who helped invent the technology.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a new spin on a decades-old practice known as \u201ccloud seeding,\u201d or efforts to boost precipitation by spraying special particles into the air. It\u2019s one of the world\u2019s most popular forms of weather modification, and it\u2019s practiced across much of the western U.S., as well as China, Russia, parts of the Middle East and other countries.<\/p>\n
Developing new and improved forms of cloud seeding has taken on a greater urgency in recent years. Severe drought around the world, worsened by the steady progression of climate change, has sparked a growing interest in innovative forms of water management from researchers, governments and corporate giants.<\/p>\n
Cloud seeding can be relatively cheap compared with other water management strategies, like desalination, a chemical process that removes salts and other minerals from water to make it safe for drinking.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s a catch. It\u2019s notoriously difficult to design experiments that demonstrate how well the technology actually works (Climatewire<\/i><\/a>, March 16, 2021).<\/p>\n Even as researchers work to develop more effective forms of cloud seeding, scientists say it\u2019s hard to tell for sure if it makes a difference.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no question that cloud seeding works \u2014 but the question is how much do we really produce?\u201d said Katja Friedrich, an atmospheric scientist and cloud seeding expert at the University of Colorado, Boulder.<\/p>\n Cloud seeding hasn\u2019t changed much since the technology was first demonstrated in the 1940s.<\/p>\n Clouds form as water droplets condense in the sky. Certain types of particles are good at attracting water or ice and, in theory, can help speed the process along. Silver iodide and other kinds of salt particles have been commonly used in cloud seeding for decades.<\/p>\n But the idea of using charged water particles is relatively new.<\/p>\n It\u2019s rooted in a simple theory. The bottoms of rain clouds are naturally filled with negatively charged water. Hit the cloud with a stream of positively charged particles and the water droplets will \u201ccollide and coalesce,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n \u201cDo that enough times and it creates precipitable rain,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Last summer\u2019s flights over Texas were the latest tests in a USDA research project<\/a> that\u2019s been ongoing for several years. Meanwhile, research groups around the world are working on similar projects aimed at juicing the effectiveness of cloud seeding operations.<\/p>\n Some, like Martin\u2019s, are using electrical charges.<\/p>\n Researchers at Britain\u2019s University of Reading and University of Bath used drones to zap clouds with electrical pulses. The project<\/a>, which began in 2017, was bankrolled by the United Arab Emirates and concluded last year.<\/p>\n Another UAE-funded project<\/a> is experimenting with nanotechnology, by seeding clouds with special nanoengineered particles. The emirates is funding a separate effort<\/a> that uses artificial intelligence to build algorithms that can more accurately predict the kinds of weather conditions best suited for cloud seeding.<\/p>\n At least 19 firms, research institutions or individuals have patented some form of cloud seeding tech since 2018, according to an E&E News review of international patents. The \u201caerial electrostatic system for weather modification\u201d that Martin invented<\/a> and is now testing is included in that tally.<\/p>\n Several companies have also taken an interest.<\/p>\n Last March, the Saudi Arabian Oil Co. \u2014 the world\u2019s third-most valuable publicly traded firm \u2014 obtained a U.S. patent for generating rain \u201cto support water flooding in remote oil fields.\u201d Drillers need water to test wells and increase oil production. But that resource can be hard to come by in the desert environments where the company, also known as Saudi Aramco, mainly operates.<\/p>\n The process Saudi Aramco patented<\/a> would seed clouds using silver iodide or other materials and then collect the rainfall in reservoirs it could draw on to boost oil production. It\u2019s unclear if the oil giant has deployed the process. Saudi Aramco declined to comment for this story.<\/p>\n Weather modification startup WeatherTec AG is another example. Based in Zug, Switzerland, with offices in Germany and Jordan, the company uses giant umbrella-shaped devices to charge humidity and clouds with what it says are rain-producing ions<\/a>.<\/p>\n WeatherTec\u2019s patents \u2014 obtained from the European Patent Office<\/a> and the World Intellectual Property Organization<\/a> \u2014 appear to be for new devices that it isn\u2019t yet marketing to potential customers. The company didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\nRain for oil?<\/h4>\n
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