A pioneering UK project to test technology for a climate "tech fix" has been postponed for at least a year.
The Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering (Spice) project would have pumped water droplets into the atmosphere from a tethered balloon.
The kit could then have been used to disperse tiny dust particles to cool the Earth, as volcanic eruptions do.
The Spice chiefs cite problems with regulations, intellectual property and public engagement.
The balloon was originally due to go up last October from the disused Sculthorpe airfield in Norfolk.
It would have ascended to about 1km. Water would have been pumped up a pipe from the ground and out of a fine nozzle, with scientists monitoring how the droplets spread and how the balloon and tether responded to changing winds.
A total of about two bathloads of water would have been dispersed.
But an advisory panel convened by the funders, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), mandated a six-month delay and asked the project organisers to engage in discussions with concerned stakeholders.
Commenting on the latest delay - which may amount to a complete cancellation - project leader Matt Watson from Bristol University said it would take time to sort out the issues.
"Any postponement of the 1km test would be a de facto cancellation as the experiment's value, to elucidate balloon and tether dynamics, diminishes over the project lifetime," he said.
"The Spice team sincerely hopes that this decision will facilitate rational, unrushed discussion on issues that include both governance and intellectual property but span broader issues surrounding solar radiation management (SRM)."
'Regrettable' moveSRM - reducing the amount of solar energy reaching the ground - is one of the two main approaches in the field of geoengineering, which seeks to develop "technical fixes" for climate change.
Mimicking volcanic eruptions with sulphate aerosol particles in the stratosphere is one method. Painting roofs white, planting crops with more reflective leaves and putting giant sunshields in space are other possibilities.
The other geoengineering approach seeks to remove carbon dioxide from the air.
Opponents, including several environment groups, point out that there may be unintended consequences, and say it is a distraction from the real task of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition, SRM techniques do nothing to tackle the gradual acidification of the oceans resulting from absorption of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
But proponents say research into these technologies is needed in case climate change progresses at such a rate that urgent action becomes necessary.
"It is regrettable that the field-trial aspect of Spice has now been cancelled; but it is vitally important that the remainder of the project, which is desk and lab based, should continue," commented Prof Peter Cox from Exeter University.
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