Scientific Support
There is broad scientific and environmental support for this project, including these from the EPA’s public comment period:
Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) is one promising approach through which humans may be able to enhance ocean uptake of CO2. However, it is necessary to study the efficacy and impacts of this approach. Further, this research should be conducted by an independent, trusted expert. The proposal by WHOI to conduct a small-scale OAE test experiment is an important, and safe, step towards testing OAE.
The proposed research offers a way to substantially increase CO2 uptake and conversion to long-lasting bicarbonate in affected waters. We fully agree with the EPA’s tentative determination that this research, “is not likely to result in significant adverse impacts to water quality, marine ecosystems, human health, or other uses of the ocean.
EDF sees scientific merit in the proposed LOC-NESS project. The type of research proposed in this project is needed to begin understanding the effectiveness, potential, and impacts of OAE interventions on the complex and dynamic marine environment. Because mCDR research is in early stages of development, limited field trials also hold the potential for providing critical insights into how mCDR interventions and their impacts on CO2 are monitored, reported, and verified, a critical element to ensure mCDR addresses the objectives of climate mitigation and environmental safety, with findings subject to scrutiny and shared broadly with the public.
While previous research has assessed the environmental impact this technology in the laboratory or within encapsulated field experiments, very few experiments explore addition to the open ocean. The rigorously designed experiments proposed by the LOC-NESS team are vital to understanding the feasibility of these approaches. The outcomes of this work will have global significance, the risks to local marine life will be minor and highly ephemeral.
Field-based research is needed to understand the efficacy of such an approach, and any effects that might occur to humans and ecosystems if such an approach were to be deployed at much larger scales. This kind of field trial research also supports broader public and community engagement on these technologies, as it produces important information that publics and communities want and need to know about the prospect of deploying such approaches in the future.
Given this solid foundation, the experiments proposed for Phase 1 and then the larger Phase 2 of the LOC-NESS project are well-timed and appropriately-scaled progressions into the type of field experimentation needed to verify the efficacy of mCDR and monitor for unintended environmental impacts. This study has the potential to inform future work as mCDR research continues and possible commercial-scale applications are developed.
Ocean Conservancy finds that the LOC-NESS Phase 1 Project represents a thoughtful step forward in developing the scientific community’s understanding about how to carry out ocean alkalinity enhancement research in a precautionary way and we support the issuance of this limited, small-scale permit.” Ocean Visions: “This is the first planned field trial of ocean alkalinity enhancement on a coastal shelf environment anywhere in the world. Simply put, the scientific merit of this work is outstanding and positions the United States as a leader in mCDR research and development.
This is the first planned field trial of ocean alkalinity enhancement on a coastal shelf environment anywhere in the world. Simply put, the scientific merit of this work is outstanding and positions the United States as a leader in mCDR research and development.
The Sabin Center supports efforts to conduct safe, responsible, and scientifically-sound research into OAE and other mCDR approaches, including controlled in ocean field trials like those proposed by WHOI. Such research is critical to improve understanding of mCDR and determine whether any particular technique might be used to help combat the climate crisis (alongside necessary emissions reductions and other climate response strategies).
There is significant uncertainty in these estimates and at-sea testing is needed to determine practical or feasible potential of OAE and to understand other impacts. Rigorous monitoring will be critical to guiding further research in this space. WHOI’s position as a trusted and credible scientific institution that is purely focused on research makes them well placed to conduct this work.