Why Using the Oceans to Suck Up CO2 Might Not be as Easy as Hoped
upstart writes:
Why using the oceans to suck up CO2 might not be as easy as hoped:
The world's oceans are amazing carbon sponges. They already capture a quarter of human-produced carbon dioxide when surface waters react with the greenhouse gas in the air or marine organisms gobble it up as they grow.
[...] Other research groups have also recently found that dissolving olivine in filtered and artificial seawater produced less of an increase in alkalinity than expected, the study noted. Still another recent preprint paper found similarly confounding results for other minerals that had been expected to boost ocean alkalinity.
Meanwhile, several additional studies recently raised doubts about a different ocean-based approach: growing seaweed and sinking it to suck up and store away carbon.
Finding viable ways to pull down greenhouse gases will be vital in the coming decades. A National Academies report in December on ocean-based carbon removal noted that the world may need to suck up an additional 10 billion tons annually by midcentury to limit warming to 2 C.
Boosting ocean alkalinity could theoretically remove tens of billions of tons each year on its own, according to the research group Ocean Visions. But the National Academies panel noted that it will require extracting, grinding, and shipping rocks on roughly similar scales, all of which would have substantial environmental consequences as well.
The new studies haven't delivered the final, definitive word on whether any of these methods will be feasible ways of helping to reach those carbon removal targets.
Journal Reference:
Fuhr, Michael, Geilert, Sonja, Schmidt, Mark, et al. Kinetics of Olivine Weathering in Seawater: An Experimental Study, Frontiers in Climate (DOI: 10.3389/fclim.2022.831587)
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