CarbonBlue is developing a method to remove carbon dioxide from both ocean and fresh waters and capture it for long-term storage, in turn enabling a similar amount of carbon dioxide to be reabsorbed and captured again in an ongoing process.
CarbonBlue’s process utilizes calcium, one of the most abundant chemical elements on the planet, to mineralize, separate, and remove dissolved CO₂ from water in a closed-loop system. This water can then be safely utilized, or returned to its source, while continuing to perform the crucial function of absorbing more atmospheric CO₂ in both cases. The calcium then gets recycled to remove additional CO₂.
CarbonBlue’s chemical process works in both ocean and fresh waters, thereby allowing for inland bodies of water to absorb carbon dioxide. Additionally, the process doesn’t rely on membranes for filtration, which reduces costs, energy requirements, and potential adverse environmental effects. And because the process can utilize available heat (both from other industrial process and renewable heat), it has the ability to decrease energy consumption needs.
Different methods of monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) are likely needed for carbon dioxide removal from the ocean vs fresh waters. This will also include the monitoring of environmental impacts in these locations. As the CarbonBlue reactors are integrated with different systems, such as desalination plants, or developed into standalone systems and the CO₂ removal capacity is scaled up, additional engineering may be required.
Doctoral Researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara
Senior Scientist, Biogeochemistry Department The Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP)
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.
Dr. Christina Frieder is a senior scientist at the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, a non-profit research institute located in Costa Mesa, California, where she studies the effects of climate change and anthropogenic pollution on acidification and oxygen loss. Her research integrates laboratory, field, and modeling data into mechanistic interpretation frameworks to understand drivers and ecological impacts of these phenomena in coastal habitats. Within the realm of mCDR, her research is currently focusing on utilization of high-resolution numerical ocean models to assess the efficacy, design, and water-quality effects of mCDR projects.