Wild & Crazy Global Warming Solutions -- Vote On Which Should Be Implemented!

The following summary of the top 20 global warming solutions to emerge from the expert panel attending this year's Manchester International Festival has been gleaned from the Guardian's website. Ultimately, the best of the 20 will included in The Manchester Report, a Guardian-sponsored compendium of forward-thinking ideas which will then be presented to worldwide policy makers. Guardian.co.uk is asking all concerned citizens to become a part of the solution by voting before the end of Thursday, July 23 on what you think is the very best solution in the bunch. See, here's yet another example of how your vote can make a real difference. Read on, think, discuss and then make it your personal goal to log onto their site this week!

Concentrated Solar Power
Focusing large amounts of sunlight onto a small area via an arsenal of giant mirrors or parabolic troughs, extremely high levels of heat can be converted into electricity using a steam turbine or Stirling engine – or stored in tanks of molten salt to provide power during inclement weather or during the evening.  It is believed that global emissions could be dramatically reduced and energy security enhanced by outfitting just 1% of the Sahara and other desert regions with concentrated solar power fields. Additionally, waste heat from the electricity generation could help to desalinate water for dry regions, and the shade of the mirrors could facilitate horticulture in areas usually too hot to support it.

Thorium Nuclear Power
Uranium is old news -- not only also is it hard to come by, it also generates high levels of waste and it remains very dangerous for thousands of years. Thorium, on the other hand, is far more abundant, much more energy-dense, and its waste remains dangerous for just hundred of years. Experts suggest that between 5,000-6,000 tons of thorium could produce as much energy as the world currently consumes each year.

Carbon Capture Plants Partially Fired With Wood
If affordable carbon capture and storage technologies can be developed, "carbon negative" power plants that burn a mix of coal and wood could potentially exist. Since wood is partly made of carbon pulled from the air by growing trees, a CCS power station fuelled by a mixture of coal and sustainably harvested wood could actually reduce the amount of greenhouse gas in the air.

Ceramic Fuel Cells
Essentially just a large battery with a replenishable fuel source, these super-efficient mini power stations could theoretically provide electricity and hot water both efficiently and at very reduced cost.

Sequestering Carbon and Boosting Crops With Biochar
Pyrolysis -- in which crop wastes, wood or other biomass materials are heated in a simple kiln and transformed into charcoal -- can be spreads on tropical soils, thereby sequestering carbon and boosting crop productivity. Even if it's mixed into soil, this biological form of carbon capture and storage will safely lock carbon content for hundreds or even thousands of years.

Marine Energy
Tidal turbines -- which are like underwater windmills than can extract energy from fast-flowing tides or deep ocean currents -- can create large amounts of power in countries with very fast-flowing tidal streams like the UK and Canada. Driven by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun (rather than the weather), the high energy density of the tides is one huge advantage to their power generation as well as the reliable nature of their power source.

Regenerating Grasslands
Locking vast quantities of carbon into the soils of the world's dry grasslands by grazing cattle in the way that wild herds normally would is one idea that is gaining popularity. Herds instinctually consume grasses and then quickly move on, giving the area a chance to grow back and draw CO2 from the air. This giant biological pump process effectively restores carbon to the soils, supporting biodiversity and environmental restoration.

Efficient Cooking Stoves
Simple and inexpensive biomass cooking stoves can slash emissions, save forests and avoid lung disease.

Universal Family Planning Access
Global investment in family planning and female education could slow down global population growth, reducing future emissions and tackling climate change vulnerability.

Enhanced Geothermal Power
Able to be utilized in any region 24 hours a day, an EGS system entails boring a hole down through the Earth's crust to a depth of a few kilometers and pumping water down at high pressure, followed by even more holes. This fractures the rock, creating "enhanced natural permeability" and exposing a large surface area of hot rock.  The 150–200C temperature steam that is generated can create electricity and hot water that can be pumped to local homes and commercial buildings.

Energy Bonds
Backed by the government, 'energy bonds' would allow individuals and institutional investors to finance a renewable energy revolution via wind farms and other alternative energy projects.

Carbon Conversations
Knowledge and awareness of climate change isn't enough to influence low-carbon lifestyle changes -- people need to be engaged on a emotional level. This series of six meetings addresses climate change in a different way, focusing on values, emotions, lifestyle and identity as well as the basic facts of emissions. Instead of just discussing energy use in the home, for example, the meetings explore notions such as what it is that makes a home a home.

Giant Algae 'Stomachs'
Giant plastic 'stomachs' in the sea could be used to digest seaweed farmed at the ocean surface, converting it into CO2 for burial and methane for cooking and heating.

Methanol and Artificial Photosynthesis
Carbon dioxide generated by power stations can be converted into methanol and used to generate electricity or fuel cars.

Adding Lime To The World's Oceans
Converting limestone into lime and then depositing it into our oceans will theoretically react with the CO2 that has already dissolved in the water, converting it into bicarbonate ions. These chemical changes will decrease the acidity of the water and enable it to absorb more CO2 from the air, thereby helping to reduce planetary warming.

Leasing Low-Emission Cars
Schemes for leasing super-lightweight low-carbon cars could help slash the emissions of the transport sector.

Solar PV and Feed-In Tariffs
Solar photovoltaic energy reduces emissions both directly and indirectly – and it can make an ideal long-term investment vehicle, according to its advocates.

Cloud-Making Ships
Ships that spray minute water droplets into the sky could increase cloud cover (which cools the planet) and reflect sunlight away from the earth. It is believed that if fifty of these ships were built each year, they could potentially cancel out the temperature rise caused by man-made climate change.