Launchpad

The Ocean Visions Launchpad supports selected innovators working on ocean-based carbon dioxide removal pathways, as well as those who are enabling or improving our understanding of these pathways. We work with teams to identify their specific needs and build customized expert advisory teams to provide ongoing advice and support.

Team: Brilliant Planet Ltd

Brilliant Planet grows microalgae in coastal deserts in an effort to help remove atmospheric carbon dioxide for multi-millennial storage while deacidifying the coastline to a pre-industrial pH.

brilliantplanet.com

The Technology

Using renewable energy and seawater, Brilliant Planet produces local, unmodified, marine microalgae that traps atmospheric carbon dioxide as it grows in large outdoor production ponds. After harvest, biomass is sun-dried into an acidic biomass-salt composite, which is stored in dry, elevated subterranean storage vaults, and durable for 1,000+ years.

The Potential Advantages

Brilliant Planet uses local organisms and benign inputs like seawater, large empty deserts, sunlight, and renewable energy, helping to reduce input and process costs. Year-long, high algae-growing productivity is achieved through a combination of sensor and tech-enabled controls—combining the scalability of natural solutions with engineering controls. Discharge is deacidified to pre-industrial levels without removing alkalinity from the seawater.

The Challenges

Brilliant Planet’s approach is field-tested and mature, but unfamiliar to academics, reviewers, and customers. Pumping large volumes of seawater is capital-intensive and, theoretically, there are significant opportunities for cost-savings by colocation with thermal cooling, desalination, pumped hydro-storage, aquaculture, and other seawater-pumping companies.