How New Innovations Capture Carbon and Combat Climate Change
In the ongoing battle against climate change, a novel approach is being developed by a company in Nova Scotia that could drastically alter the way we manage carbon emissions. Tucked away in a quiet forest, this company is building an experimental machine that may turn rivers and oceans into powerful tools for carbon capture.
The mechanism, created by CarbonRun, a Nova Scotia-based start-up, grinds up limestone and releases it into the nearby West River Pictou. When this limestone powder dissolves, it interacts with carbon dioxide present in the river, converting the gas into a stable molecule that remains underwater. Scientists believe this could help curb the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and slow the rapid heating of the planet.
Harnessing Nature to Tackle a Global Crisis
Eddie Halfyard, a freshwater ecologist and co-founder of CarbonRun, described the simplicity of the technology. “The beauty of it is how simple the technology is,” he said. “We let the water do most of the work.” With this cost-effective process, CarbonRun’s machine, priced at $400,000, has the potential to become a key player in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The technology offers a promising solution for capturing carbon in rivers, but the concept extends to oceans as well. CarbonRun’s method uses a process known as alkalinity enhancement, where limestone or magnesium oxide is added to bodies of water to increase their ability to absorb carbon dioxide. The ocean, which has already absorbed about one-third of the carbon dioxide emitted since the industrial age, could become an even more powerful sink with this intervention.
Nan Ransohoff, head of Frontier, a $1 billion fund supported by tech giants such as Stripe and Alphabet, has expressed enthusiasm for ocean-based carbon removal technologies, emphasizing how underexplored this area has been. Many believe that in conjunction with reducing emissions, removing excess carbon from the atmosphere will be vital for keeping our planet livable.
Alkalinity Enhancement: Promising Yet Challenging
While alkalinity enhancement holds promise, the challenges are significant. CarbonRun’s current method works well in rivers, but scaling it up for ocean application will require enormous resources. Vast quantities of limestone would need to be mined and transported across the globe. According to David Ho, an ocean scientist at the University of Hawaii, this new industry would need to scale rapidly to meet global demands.
“It has to go from something that most people have never heard of to the largest industry the world has ever seen, in a really short time,” said Ho. Nevertheless, with innovative technologies like this, it may be possible to help mitigate the worst impacts of climate change.
Balancing Risks and Benefits
Altering ocean chemistry, however, comes with its own set of risks. Environmental groups have raised concerns about the potential for unknown consequences, particularly for aquatic life. Any significant change to marine ecosystems could have unforeseen effects, and some are wary about conducting large-scale tests without a clearer understanding of the potential outcomes.
Ken Buesseler, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, has warned of these consequences. “They all have their problems, they all have consequences,” Buesseler said of ocean-based geoengineering methods. He stressed the importance of weighing these potential drawbacks against the catastrophic consequences of inaction.
Yet, CarbonRun’s co-founders are keen to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of their technology. The use of limestone in water management is not new. In fact, it was first used to combat acid rain in the 1970s and 80s, when industrial pollution made rainfall more acidic, harming lakes and streams. Adding limestone helped restore balance to these environments and allowed fish populations to recover.
A few years ago, Nova Scotia scientists Shannon Sterling and Eddie Halfyard discovered that this same method could also sequester carbon in rivers, turning a simple environmental fix into a potential climate change solution. As this technique continues to evolve, companies like CarbonRun are hoping to capitalize on the growing market for carbon removal technologies.
A Lucrative Opportunity in Carbon Removal
CarbonRun’s technology has already attracted attention from major corporations. Frontier recently announced a $25 million investment to help scale CarbonRun’s operations. The company plans to remove 55,442 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere — equivalent to the emissions of 13,000 cars in a year — through the addition of limestone to multiple rivers.
For CarbonRun, the challenge now is to mine and transport limestone more efficiently. Currently, they need around two tons of limestone to remove one ton of carbon dioxide. But if they can streamline the process, they could have access to hundreds of rivers worldwide that are already acidified and close to limestone deposits.
Looking Ahead: Expanding to the Oceans
While CarbonRun focuses on rivers, other organizations are eyeing the even larger potential of ocean-based carbon removal. One such company, Planetary Technologies, is conducting trials off the coast of Nova Scotia. By adding magnesium oxide to increase the alkalinity of surface waters, Planetary hopes to enhance the ocean’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide. Researchers from Dalhousie University are closely monitoring the process to ensure its safety and effectiveness.
Testing in controlled environments like Halifax Harbour offers valuable insights, but scientists agree that more trials will be needed in diverse ocean settings to confirm the viability of this method. Oceans are vast, and any chemicals introduced are quickly diluted, making it difficult to measure their impact.
Adam Subhas, a researcher from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, is one of the scientists testing alkalinity enhancement in the open ocean. His team plans to conduct experiments using large quantities of an alkaline solution to better understand its long-term effects. However, gaining approval for these trials has been a slow process, as concerns about environmental impacts remain high.
The Road Ahead for Ocean Geoengineering
Despite the challenges, the potential benefits of alkalinity enhancement are too great to ignore. With the ability to trap billions of tons of carbon dioxide annually, these technologies could play a significant role in limiting global warming.
However, the path forward will require careful coordination between governments, businesses, and environmental groups. The lack of international regulations governing ocean-based carbon removal has created a patchwork of laws that could lead to disputes between nations.
Ultimately, as the world searches for ways to slow climate change, innovations like CarbonRun’s limestone machine and ocean alkalinity enhancement may offer hope. But they must be rigorously tested and balanced with the need to protect delicate marine ecosystems. As Dr. Subhas noted, “We owe it to future generations to have at least one part of the planet we haven’t messed up.”
These technologies are still in their early stages, but with enough support and oversight, they could become critical tools in the global effort to combat climate change.
