Deep Sea Carbon Sequestration Analysis of Macroalgae
EMSL Project ID
60402
Abstract
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the National Academy of Sciences (NASEM) have identified the removal of CO2 as a key component of meeting climate goals. Among the methods of CO2 removal, macroalgae in the open ocean is highlighted as one method to convert CO2 to harvestable biomass. Fearless Fund (fearlessfund.org) is funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) and Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) to scale the production and harvest of macroalgae. The team has pioneered a process to locate, track and harvest the biomass at scale. The sinking of the biomass to the deep sea is one pathway to store the carbon for >100 years. Fearless Fund conducted a test to sink a sample of biomass to >4000 meters to better understand CO2 uptake as well as other nutrients at the surface and then change over time after long-term storage in the deep sea. Fearless Fund is requesting lab analysis of macroalgae biomass samples collected at the surface during a research cruise to measure nutrient level changes (Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus) after the preliminary storage of the biomass for 10 months.
Project Details
Project type
Limited Scope
Start Date
2022-06-01
End Date
2022-09-30
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator