Feasibility Study of the Buoy System for Measuring Carbon Dioxide Removal and Environmentally Important Water Properties in the Context of mCDR

According to the recent IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), most emissions strategies that limit climate warming to 1.5 - 2 °C rely on Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR). Nature-based CDR approaches, such as Alkalinity Enhancement (AE), serve to offset residual (legacy) emissions and, in most cases, achieve net negative emissions to return to 1.5°C from an overshoot. In general, by the middle of the century, approximately 10 - 15 GT of CO2 removal is required each year.

The proposed project aims to address an important technology and knowledge gap that limits the adoption and deployment of marine CDR methods at scale. A feasibility study will test the potential of the proposed buoy system equipped with the state-of-art sensors to measure carbon dioxide removal and changes in environmentally important water properties, such as pH, associated with the deployment of Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement. Demonstration of safe and verifiable carbon dioxide removal as a part of Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) is required for ensuring responsible CDR practices, and for producing high-quality carbon credits.

The project objectives are to investigate, through a rigorous assessment of the proposed buoy technology, the feasibility of such a platform and its sensors to effectively measure carbon dioxide uptake and deliver environmental data needed for assessment of Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement during field trials in Halifax Harbour.

Ocean carbon dioxide removal by AE is one of the most promising methods of carbon removal that is highly scalable with long-term storage at low cost. Given the vast seascape of Canada’s Atlantic provinces, and in combination with the world-leading oceanographic research and ocean technology environment, testing and implementation of CDR methods in Nova Scotia presents several unique opportunities and benefits to the province.