Can We Fight Climate Change By Giving the Ocean an Antacid?

Oceans naturally recycle carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at a massive scale, reports NBC News. So a Canadian startup named Planetary Technologies is "attempting to harness and accelerate that potential by adding antacid powder to the ocean."The theory goes that by altering seawater chemistry, the ocean's surface could absorb far more atmospheric carbon than it does naturally. The company is developing an approach that would turn the waste products from shuttered mines into an alkaline powder. They would deliver it into the water via existing pipes from wastewater treatment or energy plants to avoid having to build new infrastructure.... Planetary intends to recycle mine waste from a defunct asbestos mine in Quebec to produce pure magnesium hydroxide, which the company believes would help accelerate the ocean's carbon uptake ability in the areas where it's used. The strategy is inspired by the natural process of chemical rock weathering, where rain - which is slightly acidic - "weathers" or erodes the surface of rocks and minerals, and then transfers that alkalinity to the ocean via runoff....[T]he company intends to start running small-scale ocean pilots - adding their antacid and measuring the change in carbon absorption - in Canada and the U.K. later this year. But it's just one of "a growing number of strategies" to "leverage" the ocean in fighting climate change:In 2021, the National Academies of Science published a landmark report advocating further research into ocean-based carbon removal methods, in light of the growing scientific consensus that reducing emissions alone will not be enough to stave off the devastating effects of climate change. The report highlighted everything from large-scale seaweed farming to shooting lasers to electrochemically change the water's chemistry, while acknowledging that research on the viability and potential trade-offs of these strategies is nascent at best..... One startup intends to spread ground minerals over beaches in Long Island and the Caribbean, in the hope that they will gradually wash away and alkalinize the beaches there. Another method that's gained traction involves using underwater pipes to pump up nutrient rich water from the ocean's depths to promote phytoplankton growth on the surface.

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