Advise and Evaluate Innovators

Overview

Reducing current and future emissions of carbon dioxide is urgent and necessary, but even with a dramatic reduction in global emissions, hundreds of gigatons (one gigaton is equal to one billion tons) of carbon dioxide will need to be safely removed from the atmosphere and ocean in order to meet our climate goals. Large-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR) must be part of the portfolio of climate solutions. Given the ocean’s size, biological productivity, and capacity to permanently store carbon dioxide, it can play a leading role in greenhouse gas capture and permanent storage.

Through a partnership with the Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust, Ocean Visions is helping to identify and evaluate ocean-based carbon dioxide removal innovations. Ocean Visions and Grantham Environmental Trust are working together to evaluate the science and engineering of ocean-based climate initiatives, with Ocean Visions providing third-party advice and assistance on research, development, field testing, impact analysis, and optimization.

Initiatives

Running Tide Technologies, Inc.

Running Tide Technologies, Inc. is a company specializing in scalable aquaculture solutions. In 2021 Running Tide is conducting a field trial of a technology designed to grow seaweeds (macroalgae) with the intent of sequestering carbon. This field trial will determine the efficacy and impacts of a proprietary system of open ocean kelp farming for carbon sequestration. An Ocean Visions’ Expert Team will provide external, third-party review of Running Tide’s research plans and all findings that come from the field trial.

SEA MATE

SEA MATE is a pilot project spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Stony Brook University to develop an electrochemical approach to mitigate ocean acidification and enhance ocean carbon sequestration. In the 2021 pilot, SEA MATE will explore the restoration of ocean chemistry through the electrochemical removal of acid which, in the process, will capture atmospheric carbon dioxide into the stable form of bicarbonate. An Ocean Visions’ Expert Team has been assembled to serve as advisors in the research and development phase, providing scientific guidance, input, and, ultimately, evaluation on the design of experiments, data analysis, hypothesis testing, and safe operating thresholds. The Ocean Visions’ Expert Team will also provide third-party review of the results of the SEA MATE research and development plan. 

About Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust

The Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust is a 501(c)(3) public charity established in 2005 to combat environmental degradation. It was established by Jeremy Grantham, the co-founder and Chief Investment Strategist of Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo, a Boston-based asset management firm. The Trust is a supporting organization established to make grants to leading environmental nonprofit organizations.