Team Captura is a group of Caltech scientists, engineers, professors, oceanographers, and more who are developing electrochemical approaches aimed at extracting CO2 from the ocean to sequester it safely.
Captura is developing an offshore platform using a high-efficiency electrochemical pH swing (EpHS) technology. Shifting the balance between acidic and basic pH in ocean water results in the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in the ocean shifting from carbonate and bicarbonate toward carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide can then be captured and sequestered underground in depleted offshore oil wells and other locations.
The Captura system proposes autonomous, offshore operation of CO₂ capture and sequestration, and is designed to provide energy and capture efficiencies that are competitive with direct air capture (DAC). System inputs include only oceanwater and sunlight, and the process does not generate any unwanted byproducts, such as hydrochloric acid and/or chlorine.
Some of the challenges that Ocean Visions will help address include questions around site selection (including understanding regulations related to discharge), social and environmental impact of the technology at scale, and building scalable offshore operations (incorporating renewable energy and working in challenging conditions).
Doctoral Researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara
Professor in Marine Ecology and Conservation at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego
Head of Biogeochemistry Department at the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project
Scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
James Gately is pursuing a Ph.D. in biological oceanography at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He holds a B.S. in marine biology from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. James’ research interests center on how marine ecosystems are impacted by anthropogenically driven changes in ocean chemistry. He is currently investigating how ecologically and biogeochemically important groups of marine phytoplankton respond to seawater alkalinization. Prior to his academic career, James served seven years in the U.S. Navy as an information technology specialist.
Jennifer Smith is an Professor in marine ecology and conservation in the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego.
Smith’s research focuses on understanding the factors that influence community structure in marine ecosystems. Her research often goes beyond basic ecology by integrating conservation, restoration, management, and sustainability. While much of the Smith lab is focused on addressing pressing issues in marine ecology with the impending increase in human populations, lab members are increasingly interested in seafood sustainability, coastal aquaculture and habitat restoration. Smith and her team work in coastal CA as well as in tropical coral reef environments and their expertise is in benthic ecology with an emphasis on the study of seaweeds
Dr. Martha Sutula is the head of Biogeochemistry Department at the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, a non-profit research institute located in Costa Mesa, California, where she oversees a research portfolio related to the effects of climate change and anthropogenic pollution on acidification, hypoxia, harmful algal blooms, and how those changes link to ecological effects. Her research group combines the use of observations, experiments, and numerical models to understand drivers and ecological impacts of these phenomena in coastal habitats, and uses this science to support conversations on solutions, including watershed management, restoration and natural and engineering solutions to bioremediation and marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR). Beyond her research activities, she focuses on translating science to regulatory and policy applications. Within the realm of mCDR, her research is currently focusing on developing consensus on a comprehensive framework to assess ecosystem effects and clarify science needs to streamline regulatory and permitting discussions for mCDR technology partners.
Yui is a Scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. Yui received his PhD in Oceanography from the University of California, San Diego. Yui’s main research interests are to develop and apply autonomous sensing technology to observe marine biogeochemical cycles in situ. Most recently, Yui was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Carnegie Institution for Science, Department of Global Ecology, at Stanford. Yui has received several honors, including the Excellence in Partnership Award from the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP), the University of California San Diego Directors Fellowship, and the undergraduate academic honor cum laude.