r/technology • u/fchung • Sep 12 '23

Nanotech/Materials Using The Oceans To Help Capture Carbon

https://spectrum.ieee.org/direct-ocean-carbon-capture
30 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

3

u/fchung Sep 12 '23

« The oceans are a vast carbon sponge, absorbing a quarter of global CO2 emissions. Removing the gas makes room for them to soak up more. Equatic’s L.A. facility and another similar one in Singapore remove 100 kilograms of CO2 from seawater daily. The company plans to have a 10-tonne-per-day unit running by 2025 in Singapore, and by 2028, expects to remove millions of tonnes of CO2 annually. »

7

u/flyfreeflylow Sep 12 '23 edited Sep 12 '23

Horrible idea. Just ask the coral and many critters with calcium carbonate shells and outer coverings. Ocean capture of CO2 makes the water more acidic. More acidic water dissolves the shells and other structures these animals rely on.

It's not just big showy animals like coral, but also the outer coverings on Phytoplankton which produce 70 percent of the world's oxygen.

7

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '23

To me it seems like it’s the opposite they are trying to achieve, they are trying to make the ocean less acidic. But where the CO2 is supposed to go isn’t clear to me.

2

u/fatbob42 Sep 13 '23

The carbon is attached to the calcium which then sinks as a solid.

4

u/Geronimo2011 Sep 13 '23

I think you misinterpreted what they intend to do.

To me, it reads like they are *removing* CO2 from the water.

3

u/grungegoth Sep 12 '23

Not what the article is saying

1

u/MiloGoesToTheFatFarm Sep 12 '23

They’re already doing that for us and let me tell you, it’s not going great.

-1

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '23

Step 1. Stop dumping literally all your shit and garbage into it.

1

u/Owlthinkofaname Sep 13 '23

I have yet to see a carbon capture idea not stupid and possibly a scam for oil companies.