Project
Advise And Evaluate Ocean-Based Carbon Dioxide Removal Initiatives
Overview
Reducing current and future emissions of carbon dioxide is urgent and necessary, but even with a dramatic reduction in global emissions, hundreds of gigatons (one gigaton is equal to one billion tons) of carbon dioxide will need to be safely removed from the atmosphere and ocean in order to meet our climate goals. Large-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR) must be part of the portfolio of climate solutions. Given the ocean’s size, biological productivity, and capacity to permanently store carbon dioxide, it can play a leading role in greenhouse gas capture and permanent storage.
Ocean-based CDR technologies are much less developed than land-based alternatives, but there are a number of promising approaches, including large-scale macroalgae (seaweed) cultivation, ocean alkalinity enhancement, and direct ocean capture. These approaches must be monitored and evaluated transparently as they develop.
Through a partnership with the Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust, Ocean Visions is helping to identify and evaluate ocean-based carbon dioxide removal innovations. Ocean Visions and Grantham Environmental Trust are working together to evaluate the science and engineering of ocean-based climate initiatives, with Ocean Visions providing third-party advice and assistance on research, development, field testing, impact analysis, and optimization.
Initiatives
Running Tide Technologies, Inc.
Running Tide Technologies, Inc. is a company specializing in scalable aquaculture solutions. In 2021 Running Tide is conducting a field trial of a technology designed to grow seaweeds (macroalgae) with the intent of sequestering carbon. This field trial will determine the efficacy and impacts of a proprietary system of open ocean kelp farming for carbon sequestration. An Ocean Visions’ Expert Team will provide external, third-party review of Running Tide’s research plans and all findings that come from the field trial. Learn More
Safe Elevation of Alkalinity for the Mitigation of Acidification Through Electrochemistry (SEA MATE)
SEA MATE is a pilot project spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Stony Brook University to develop an electrochemical approach to mitigate ocean acidification and enhance ocean carbon sequestration. In the 2021 pilot, SEA MATE will explore the restoration of ocean chemistry through the electrochemical removal of acid which, in the process, will capture atmospheric carbon dioxide into the stable form of bicarbonate. An Ocean Visions’ Expert Team has been assembled to serve as advisors in the research and development phase, providing scientific guidance, input, and, ultimately, evaluation on the design of experiments, data analysis, hypothesis testing, and safe operating thresholds. The Ocean Visions’ Expert Team will also provide third-party review of the results of the SEA MATE research and development plan.
About
About Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust
The Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust is a 501(c)(3) public charity established in 2005 to combat environmental degradation. It was established by Jeremy Grantham, the co-founder and Chief Investment Strategist of Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo, a Boston-based asset management firm. The Trust is a supporting organization established to make grants to leading environmental nonprofit organizations.
About Ocean Visions
Ocean Visions Inc. brings together leading oceanographic research and academic institutions with private sector and public-interest organizations to design and advance solutions to the growing threats to our ocean. We are committed to reversing the climate crisis in the ocean, increasing the resilience of coastal systems and communities to climate impacts, and building a climate-resilient aquatic food system.
