Scientists from Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) and the University of Exeter urge caution in the upscaling of ocean carbon removal technologies until more detailed research can be done on the environmental impacts.

This call follows a review of current research, in addition to initial assessments made as part of the team’s SeaCURE project.

Published in Frontiers in Climate, the study, “Removal of dissolved inorganic carbon from seawater for climate mitigation: potential marine ecosystem impacts,” represents the first comprehensive review of the potential effects associated with direct ocean carbon capture and storage.

Such technologies, including SeaCURE, work by electrochemically removing dissolved inorganic carbon from seawater, which can then be stored. The treated low-carbon, high-pH seawater is then released back into the ocean, where it will then naturally draw down more atmospheric CO₂, restoring the seawater to normal pH and carbon concentrations.

Learn more here.