Accelerating Earth’s natural carbon dioxide removal processes attracts a lot of attention from scientists and innovators taking part in the rush to solve the climate crisis. Project Vesta is one organization, providing a negative emissions nature-based technology known as coastal enhanced weathering.
The startup has made a new deal with the largest provider of dredging services in the US – Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ: GLDD). According to the new partnership, Project Vesta will use its clean technology that uses sand to remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The partnership is also the first of its kind, as Great Lakes is the first member of the global dredging industry to go for such an initiative.
“We are committed to robustly furthering the science of Coastal Carbon Capture…Our partnership with Great Lakes will enable us to accelerate our research and help coastal communities fight both the cause and symptoms of climate change,” said Tom Green, CEO of Project Vesta.
According to Great Lakes’ Senior Vice President Bill Hanson, the collaboration will also help the company to address climate change and the impacts of coastal erosion. It takes pride in raising the bar in the industry for climate change mitigation.
Project Vesta’s technology works as an acceleration of the natural chemical weathering of the mineral olivine. The company is spreading large amounts of ground olivine-containing rock onto coastlines where it can dissolve in seawater, increasing the rate of CO2 absorption by the ocean.
When olivine dissolves in water, it increases CO2 uptake, pH, and generates alkalinity – a process that has the potential of counteracting ocean acidification.
The company has also set one of the most sequestration targets compared to other CO2 removal methods – 1 billion tons of CO2 per year.
The partnership between GLDD and Project Vesta is an important milestone marking history for both companies. Other participants in the dredging industry could also take the example and follow GLDD’s steps of removing their emissions via natural carbon sinks.
