Investigating the viability and safety of Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement: an approach that removes CO2, combats ocean acidification, and could scale up to make a Planetary impact.

220818 NZA Webinar - Planetary Tech

Dr. Will Burt, Planetary Tech

The IPCC is clear that avoiding the worst impacts of combating climate change will require both drastic emissions cuts and billion-tonne-per-year-scale (gigatonne scale) removal of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The ocean already takes up roughly 1/3 of anthropogenic emissions, and is by far the largest carbon reservoir in direct atmospheric contact. For these reasons, research into ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategies has increased dramatically. One such strategy, Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE), is receiving considerable attention because of its extremely high scalability alongside lesser ecological risks.

Planetary Technologies, a Dartmouth-based startup and recent XPrize Carbon Removal Milestone winners, have teamed with world-leading institutions, including Dalhousie University, to begin exploring OAE's viability and safety. In this webinar, Dr. Will Burt, Planetary's Senior Ocean Chemist, will introduce the OAE strategy, highlight the results of Planetary's academic-partnered research, and describe the steps, including plans to begin small-scale ocean trials in the coming months.