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Exploring the Ocean’s Carbon Capture Abilities

The ocean has a remarkable talent that has been perfected over thousands of years: the capacity to absorb and retain massive amounts of carbon dioxide, a major contributor to climate change. Unfortunately, the natural carbon capture cycles of the ocean, which typically take hundreds of thousands of years, are unable to keep up with the rapid increase in human-generated carbon emissions. The global shipping industry alone is responsible for approximately 3% of global CO2 emissions.

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A groundbreaking technology, inspired by the ocean’s natural processes, has emerged as a potential solution to tackle carbon emissions. A team of researchers from USC and Caltech, in partnership with startup company Calcarea, has developed a device designed to capture carbon emissions directly from cargo ships and other diesel-powered vessels that play a vital role in the global shipping industry.

“Our technology emulates the ocean’s natural carbon capture mechanism but at a significantly accelerated rate,” explained William Berelson, the Paxson H. Offield Professor in Coastal and Marine Systems at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, and one of the key researchers behind the project. “While nature may take years to achieve carbon capture, our reactors can accomplish the same in mere minutes,” Berelson added during an interview with USC News at AltaSea, a public-private ocean institute based at the Port of Los Angeles.

Replicating Nature’s Carbon Capture Mechanism

The carbon capture process in the ocean bears a resemblance to a common household remedy – antacid tablets like Tums.

Limestone, a form of calcium carbonate found abundantly on the seafloor, serves as the equivalent of antacids in neutralizing excess CO2 absorbed by the ocean from the atmosphere. This process produces bicarbonate, a natural component of seawater.

The researchers’ innovative technology, comprising two reactors named Ripple 1 and Ripple 2, operates on a similar principle. These reactors extract CO2 directly from engine exhaust and transform it into a solution enriched with bicarbonate. This solution is then reintroduced into the ocean, with minimal impact on the overall chemistry of the water. Essentially, the reactors restore the water to a slightly more saline version of its natural state, with negligible consequences for marine life.

Transitioning from Laboratory to Implementation at Sea

The development of the reactor technology underwent meticulous testing and refinement. The initial prototype, Ripple 1, was created at USC’s University Park Campus to evaluate carbon capture in controlled ocean water conditions.

The successful outcomes of these initial trials paved the way for the more advanced Ripple 2 reactor, currently undergoing testing at AltaSea. Throughout this process, USC scientists rigorously monitored the impact of Ripple effluent on marine ecosystems.

“The scalability of this technology is its crowning achievement,” emphasized Berelson, who was recently honored with the USC Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability Faculty Innovation Award for his contributions to carbon capture research. “Our objective is to transform this technology into a commercially viable solution that can seamlessly integrate into existing shipping operations. By implementing this technology on a large scale across the shipping sector, we aim to significantly reduce global CO2 emissions.”

The technology has already garnered interest from the shipping industry. Calcarea recently announced a collaboration with Lomar Shipping’s corporate venture lab, lomarlabs, to commercialize and deploy their shipboard carbon capture system.

“Our technology boasts lower energy requirements, reduced costs, and minimal infrastructure demands compared to other emission-cutting alternatives in the maritime sector,” stated Jess Adkins, founder and CEO of Calcarea and the Smits Family Professor of Geochemistry and Global Environmental Science at Caltech. “However, to see our system widely adopted and operational in the industry, we need buy-in from ship owners and operators. This collaboration will expedite the necessary testing and maritime engineering processes to bring our system into practical use and ultimately mitigate emissions.”

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