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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: SeaO₂

SeaO₂ is using electrochemical direct ocean capture to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in geological formations or products such as concrete for long-term sequestration.

The Technology

SeaO₂’s electrochemical direct ocean capture process uses renewable electricity and seawater to extract CO₂ from the surface of seawater—allowing for a similar amount to be reabsorbed from the atmosphere. The process uses electrochemistry and a vacuum and results in two outputs: decarbonized water and a pure stream of CO₂. The decarbonized water is returned to the ocean and the extracted gaseous CO₂ is permanently stored in geological formations or utilized in products such as concrete.

The Potential Advantages

With carbon concentration in seawater ~150 times higher than in the air, SeaO₂’s technology taps into the vast, natural resource that the ocean offers, presenting a cost-efficient solution for removing CO₂ while also producing a reliable, measurable stream of CO₂, which is important for monitoring purposes. Simplicity is the guiding principle—a plug-and-play, compact design that can integrate into existing infrastructure such as water-cooling facilities or wastewater treatment facilities, thereby minimizing land use. The process operates without chemicals or feedstock, aligning with the ethos of efficiency, sustainability, and environmental responsibility.

The Challenges

Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) standards are necessary to strengthen science and achieve a better understanding of environmental impact assessments. Additionally, siting strategy improvements would help identify optimal plant locations and create synergies with potential partners utilizing seawater pumps. Other challenges include optimizing electrochemical stack engineering and degasser processes design.

Advisors

Adam De Sola Pool

VC and Angel Investor, Mentor, and Entrepreneur

Nicholas Smith Sanchez

Marine Biologist and Biogeochemist

Chris Reinhard

Associate Professor and Georgia Power Chair in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology

View the other Launchpad teams

Adam De Sola Pool

Adam is an experienced VC and Angel investor, mentor, and entrepreneur, with 20 years of sector experience in cleantech & ocean technology companies. Adam has helped to start more than 20 companies in the cleantech space.  Most recently, Adam was the Special Advisor for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and an Advisor to the PropellerVC fund (ocean tech).  Currently, Adam as an Angel Investor is a Partner in the Blue Angels investment group (ocean technology), an affiliate member of Launchpad Ventures, and an Emeritus Partner of the Clean Energy Venture Group. Adam Mentors & Judges at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, Ocean Impact Organization, & MassChallenge.

Nicolás Sánchez

Nicolás Sánchez is a marine biologist and biogeochemist currently pursuing a PhD investigating the impacts of ocean alkalinity enhancement on plankton food webs. He is particularly interested in how community composition and trophic structure shift with OAE, with a particular focus on zooplankton as the primary link from microalgae to fish. 

Chris Reinhard

Dr. Chris Reinhard is Associate Professor and Georgia Power Chair in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Reinhard is trained as a biogeochemist and Earth system scientist, with a background in Earth system evolution, ocean biogeochemistry, and Earth system modeling. Reinhard’s current research focuses on providing a sound mechanistic and empirical basis for scaling up deployment of targeted CDR approaches, while in parallel evaluating the costs, benefits, and ecological consequences of CDR approaches that are at the “concept” stage. This includes a particular focus on navigating the deployment of enhanced rock weathering in agricultural systems at scale, pursuing the development of flexible, modular reactor-based approaches toward engineered alkalinity production, and evaluating the CDR potential and ecological consequences of ocean alkalinity enhancement. More generally, Reinhard is interested in the biogeochemistry of the Earth system, and the ways in which human influence intersects with the large-scale cycling of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and oxygen.