Sea-questration: Can We Engineer Oceans to Remove Carbon?

Researchers and start-ups are proposing novel ways to lock carbon away in the oceans. But do the risks outweigh the rewards?

Photo by Sebastian V.:

Carbon removal is now necessary given the current state of our climate. Yet, many available options are still in their early stages of development. When it comes to terrestrial carbon removal, the go-to solutions often include afforestation, direct air capture (DAC), and biochar production. However, one major limitation to these is land availability. We need enough space to implement these solutions while ensuring no harmful land-use changes occur.

The ocean, on the other hand, presents a different scenario. Covering over 70% of the planet’s surface, it provides ample space to deploy various carbon removal projects without the constraints of land competition.

Yet, have we come close to exploring the possibilities of carbon capture in the oceans?

Source:

The Earth’s largest carbon sink is, in fact, not the ocean — it’s actually the planet’s rocky shell, made up of rocks like sandstone, limestone, and shale…