Mike Schroepfer, Partner at Gigascale Capital and former Meta CTO, announced on Linkedin that Additional Ventures – a non-profit he co-founded – has launched the Carbon to Sea Initiative. The new non-profit research and development effort, which has raised over $50 million to date, aims to accelerate ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE), which is among the most promising ocean carbon removal pathways.
Carbon to Sea’s $50+ million funding comes from various philanthropic organizations, including Additional Ventures, Catalyst for Impact, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. The project has committed $23 million in grant funding to a network of dozens of researchers that focus on ocean alkalinity enhancement.
Carbon to Sea, which is the biggest program dedicated specifically to this ocean CO2 removal method, will assess a dozen potential OAE pathways and will address critical scientific and engineering queries, promote locally-led field research sites, facilitate the establishment of ethical regulatory frameworks, and attract additional scientists and funding to advance the field.
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The ocean contains 50 times more CO2 than ambient air and permanently locks away more than one gigaton of atmospheric carbon yearly via natural rock weathering. OAE could significantly speed up this natural process while counteracting ocean acidification.
“If we’re going to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we need to aggressively reduce emissions and remove carbon from the atmosphere,” said Schroepfer, who serves as Board Chair ат Carbon to Sea. “Scientists agree that OAE has enormous potential to permanently remove and store carbon and more funding for research is needed.” The initiative needs to address the need for research funding and provide insights into the safety and effectiveness of different OAE methods by addressing fundamental scientific inquiries, he also said.
Carbon to Sea prioritizes transparency because there are still questions regarding the viability of ocean alkalinity enhancement at scale. The project will look at both the potential unintended consequences and potential benefits of OAE, and all findings will be made available.
A diverse group of researchers with expertise in fields spanning marine biogeochemistry, engineering, and others, have been awarded grants to examine the potential of OAE in providing large-scale, secure, and economical carbon dioxide removal (CDR) solutions. They will primarily focus on determining the most suitable methods for achieving these goals while ensuring environmental safety and preservation of the natural environment.
Read more: The National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration Releases Carbon Removal Strategy
