Stardust’s potential customers It seems to be the government: Just as countries consider geoengineering, stardust can sell them to tools to achieve these goals. In his email answering questions about his business model, Yedvab described the company’s approach as “built on premises” that solar engineers “will play a key role in addressing global warming over the next few decades.”
Yedwab added that the company’s technology portfolio: “can be deployed after decisions by the U.S. government and the international community.”
The company is trying to patent its geoengineering technology. “We expect this to be our leader [geoengineering] “The value of Stardust Technology’s portfolio will increase accordingly,” Yedvab wrote.
The prospects of proprietary, privately held geoengineering technology have worried some experts. Pasztor advises Stardust to work with investors to explore ways to give away its intellectual property, similar to how Volvo can freely use the patented three-point seat belt design from other manufacturers 60 years ago. In addition, Stardust can cooperate with the government to purchase all rights to IP, and then the technology can be provided freely.
Pasztor argues that, in any case, Stardust can only be ethically done with complete transparency and independent supervision: “They are running in a vacuum, and in a sense there is no social permission to do what they are trying to do.
So far, other experts have questioned Stardust’s behavior. When it comes to governance principles such as transparency and public participation, “they don’t follow either,” said Shuchi Talati, founder of the alliance, only considering nonprofit solar engineers in Washington DC. “Pasztor’s report is the only thing we have to do with them,” she added. Stardust did not conduct any public consultations for its outdoor field tests, nor did it release any data or other information about them. She believes that a lack of transparency may have consequences for companies because Stardust’s approach may inspire conspiracy theories about what the “secret Israeli companies” do, and on the road, it’s hard to believe Stardust.
Talati says in a better way Papers published in Januaryis to build communication and build trust as early as possible, to disclose what it is doing and who it is involved with. She believes that the company’s funders should also disclose the scope of their funding.
Friends of Earth, a person who has long regarded geoengineering as “Dangerous distractions,” echo Talati’s concerns and go further with their critics of Stardust. “I don’t think it’s compatible to have venture capital foundation and to be committed to scientific ideals,” said Benjamin Day, FOE’s senior campaigner on geoengineering. The problem, in his view, is that Stardust’s engineers have a vested interest in finding that stratospheric geoengineering can and should be done.
Day said that if the government chose to use geoengineering, they could rely heavily on stardust if they were in the competition to lead – currently not. “There is no private market for geoengineering technologies. They will only make money when they are deployed by the government, and by then, they are trying to connect government hostages to technology patents.”
