A groundbreaking project to capture carbon dioxide from the sea has begun operating off England’s south coast. The SeaCURE pilot scheme, funded by the UK government, aims to explore whether removing carbon from seawater can be an efficient way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Scientists believe that part of the solution to climate change involves capturing some of the gases already released into the atmosphere. However, most projects focus on capturing emissions at source or pulling them from the air. SeaCURE differs by testing if it’s more efficient to pull planet-warming carbon from seawater, which is present in greater concentrations in water than in the air.
The project uses a pipe that sucks up seawater and brings it onshore, where it processes the carbon before pumping it back out to sea. The goal is to find if removing carbon from the water can be cost-effective way to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere. SeaCURE processes the seawater to remove the carbon, then pumps it back out to sea where it absorbs more CO2.
According to Dr Paul Halloran, leading the project, using seawater has its advantages, as it contains 150 times more carbon than the air. However, it also comes with challenges, including huge energy requirements. The current amount of CO2 removed by the pilot project is tiny – about 100 metric tonnes per year – but experts think it has potential to be scaled up.
The technology has the potential to remove 14 billion tonnes of CO2 annually if 1% of the world’s seawater on the ocean’s surface is processed. This would require powering the entire process with renewable energy, possibly using solar panels in a floating installation at sea. Dr Oliver Geden from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change believes that capturing directly from seawater or air is one of 15-20 options, and the choice will depend on cost.
The SeaCURE project has received £3m funding from the government as part of efforts to develop technologies that capture and store greenhouse gases. Energy Minister Kerry McCarthy says that removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere is essential for achieving net zero emissions.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr788kljlklo