New CO2 Capture Technology is 99,000x Faster Than Earth’s Oceans

The ocean naturally pulls in about a quarter of the carbon dioxide people produce. It's the planet’s largest carbon sink. Some companies now aim to help it do even more. One of them, Equatic, is developing new technology to capture even more carbon from the air and ocean.

“We take what the ocean does already and amplify that,” said Edward Sanders, chief operating officer at Equatic, during a recent briefing.

Equatic is designing what it says will be the first commercial-scale, ocean-based plant for carbon removal. Sanders noted the plant could speed up carbon capture by as much as 99,000 times compared to the ocean’s normal rate.

This company is part of a fast-growing group exploring how to tap the ocean’s potential in climate solutions. A report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine suggests these marine-based methods could someday pull billions of tons of CO2 from the atmosphere.

Equatic’s method centers on seawater electrolysis. This technique uses electric currents to split seawater into hydrogen, oxygen, and two liquids—an acid and a base. The reaction traps carbon already in the water by forming a solid similar to seashells.

The process also makes an alkaline slurry that can absorb CO2 directly from the air using a cooling tower. “The process stores carbon that was dissolved in the water as a solid and creates an alkaline slurry that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,” Sanders explained.

In addition to removing CO2, the process produces clean hydrogen fuel. Equatic plans to use this hydrogen to power its operations or sell it to other industries. Companies like Boeing and Stripe have already signed contracts for Equatic’s hydrogen products.

Equatic operates two pilot plants in Los Angeles and Singapore to validate its technology. A larger facility, capable of removing 4,000 metric tons of CO2 annually, is under development in Singapore. This plant will serve as a stepping stone toward Equatic's first commercial-scale operation, set to launch by 2026 or 2027 in collaboration with Deep Sky, a Canadian carbon removal project developer.

The cost of removing one ton of CO2 is estimated to range between $230 and $540 by 2050. However, Equatic aims to lower these expenses by leveraging revenue from its green hydrogen production. The company predicts that by 2030, it could achieve carbon removal at less than $100 per ton, making the process significantly more accessible.

As the need for effective climate solutions grows, marine-based carbon removal strategies like Equatic’s could play a pivotal role in reducing atmospheric CO2. By enhancing natural processes and combining them with innovative technology, companies like Equatic are working to create scalable, cost-effective solutions to address one of the planet’s most pressing challenges.

Sanders envisions a global fleet of these CDR plants. "Once we get to that point, we're not talking about a hundred thousand tons, we're not talking about millions of tons, we're talking about hundreds of millions of tons because this technology can be replicated in many countries," he said.

With no commercial-scale, ocean-based CDR plants in operation yet, the environmental and economic impacts remain uncertain. Ocean-based CDR techniques manipulate seawater in ways that could potentially disrupt marine life.

"You're going to be pulling in phytoplankton and bugs and other potential living creatures from the ocean and filtering those out can have some environmental impacts," said Jessica Cross, an earth scientist specializing in oceanic CDR at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

The specific impacts depend on the location of the CDR operation and the organisms involved. Sanders assured that Equatic closely monitors discharge from its CDR plants to comply with legal pollution standards. The upcoming plant in Singapore will also filter seawater to remove marine life before the water enters the plant.

Despite the potential of CDR technology, it is expensive and limited in scale. Therefore, it cannot replace efforts to decarbonize and reduce emissions.

The benefits of CDR technology are "far in the future, whereas the risks of initiating this industry and this infrastructure development are local, short-term, and much more immediate," Cross noted.

"Figuring out how to balance this diffuse global benefit with the local risk is something that responsible researchers should be grappling with," she added.

As we continue to innovate and develop CDR technologies, it is crucial to consider both their potential benefits and risks. Equatic's efforts represent a promising step towards harnessing the ocean's natural processes to combat climate change, but it is clear that we must continue to pursue a balanced approach that includes reducing emissions and protecting our environment.

Note: Materials provided above by The Brighter Side of News. Content may be edited for style and length.

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