Bermuda can lead the way in blue carbon

The nascent field of carbon capture in the ocean, a field known as blue carbon, represents a huge opportunity for Bermuda to become a world leader – and the island’s reinsurers could also have a big role to play, a panel of experts agreed at a panel discussion yesterday at the Bermuda Climate Summit.

The session, called ‘Deep Ocean Solutions’, was moderated by William Curry, president and CEO, Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS). It featured: Mallory Ringham, PhD Chemical Oceanography, Ebb Carbon; Neil Eckert (pictured), executive chairman, Conduit Re; and Philip Kithil, founder & CEO, Ocean-Based Climate Solutions.

Eckert described how the opportunity of carbon capture in the ocean dwarfs the land-based equivalent – and has the potential to be significantly cheaper. But he said key to this sector’s growth would be finance, the creation of a buyside and liquidity. Bermuda, given its unique ocean resources and status as a global financial centre, has the ability to deliver all of those things, he said.

“Nature based carbon capture and trading is in its infancy but the opportunity for blue carbon is huge and the opportunity for Bermuda equally big,” he told the conference, which finished yesterday. “It is a nascent sector, but Bermuda is perfectly positioned to become a global leader. You will need capital but also a very good regulatory framework. Bermuda could create or host an exchange for marketplaces.

“I believe that, in time, we will need to pull carbon out of atmosphere on a scale currently not imagined and the attributes of blue carbon are appealing. The cost of doing this in the ocean is a fraction of the cost of land-based carbon storage.”

However, he also stressed a first step is required: scientists need to develop and prove methodologies that prove exactly how much carbon is being removed by various technologies. He said fears of being accused of greenwashing would stymie development in this space, without this. “We need verification of the impact of technologies in order to get capital and get to work.”

Curry explained the bigger picture of just how effective the ocean can be at capturing carbon and reducing the levels in the atmosphere. He said there are many natural processes that do this automatically but also said there are ways to enhance these processes.

“The ocean is your friend in this regard and just as reforestation is a good thing, there are ways to enhance the ocean CO2 uptake. But there is a financial aspect to this as a market if it is to develop.”

He noted that a number of startup companies have launched into this space, all exploring and developing different technologies and methodologies. He also cited the fact that the US Department of Energy has developed and invested in the Carbon Storage Validation and Testing Program, which will be tasked with testing methodologies in this space and validating results. “But the scaling of carbon removal needed is enormous. No doubt there will be unintended consequences of this,” he said.

Ringham explained how Ebb Carbon, an ocean-based carbon dioxide removal company founded by former Tesla, SolarCity, and Google X executives, is tackling this problem. Its technology enhances and speeds the ocean’s natural ability to capture and permanently store CO2 from the atmosphere. It has developed an electrochemical ocean alkalinity enhancement solution.

It does this by speeding up a natural process, called ocean alkalinization. It uses an electrochemical system that rearranges the salt and water molecules in salt water into acid and slightly alkaline salt water solutions. Returning the alkaline salt water to the ocean mimics the natural alkalization process and creates a chemical reaction that pulls CO2 out of the air and converts it into bicarbonate, the ocean’s most abundant form of carbon storage.

Ringham also acknowledged some of the barriers, however. In addition to finance, companies operating in this space face many regulatory burdens and bureaucracy. She also acknowledged that many different solutions will be needed. “No one carbon removal pathway will be good enough – we are looking at portfolios of many technologies,” she said.

She also acknowledged how hard it can be to measure outcomes. “We do live seawater trials but a major challenge is that seawater constantly moves. Whatever you do, your signal gets lost quickly. So we don’t have that measurement technology yet – we almost need an industry growing alongside ours based around carbon removal validation.”

Kithil explained the approach Ocean-Based Climate Solutions is taking. Its technology works by using upwelling pumps, which bring nutrient-rich seawater from the deep ocean twilight zone to the sunlit surface. This accelerates the growth of phytoplankton which, as well as being the start of the food chain for all ocean life, are responsible for most of the transfer of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the ocean. Carbon dioxide is consumed during photosynthesis, and the carbon is incorporated in the phytoplankton, just as carbon is stored in the wood and leaves of a tree.

“Fossil fuels globally remain at 82% of global supply – the problem is not going away,” Kithil said. “Also, when CO2 is emitted, it has about a 10-year lag before it reaches its full global warming potential. Using phytoplankton is a case of progressing a natural condition. In terms of upwelling, there are many places this occurs naturally anyway.”