Colonizing the planet?! (And clearing taint)

[WillDieForPie]

I'm getting to the late-game (ish) point of the game where I begin to have a few questions.

1. Is there a very effective way to clear taint or do you have to clear the entire areas with Ethereal Blooms in order to get the badges?

2. What do you have to do/is required to use the drop ship and colonize the planet?

[CanVox]

1.  There are several options for clearing taint- many of them are improvements on the ethereal bloom in some form or fashion.  Thaumcraft's Basic Alchemy research unlocks the Ethereal Bloom research, and that unlocks a number of increasingly-better taint-clearing options.  Keep researching these options and you'll unlock progressively better options until you unlock the Dawn Machine.

 

2.  Once you gold medal every region, you'll receive a badge that you can give to the drop computer and colonize the planet.