Abstract
The equivalent of about 1/4 of annual anthropogenic CO2 emissions is absorbed and stored by the ocean, and the sea plays the primary role in naturally removing excess atmospheric CO2 on geologic timescales. Ways of safely enhancing or augmenting this carbon uptake and storage therefore have the potential to contribute significantly to atmospheric CO2 stabilization efforts. Various physical, chemical, biological, and hybrid strategies of increasing ocean CO2 uptake or reducing CO2 leakage have been proposed. Further research is needed to better determine the full range of options and their costs, benefits, impacts, and overall desirability as CO2 mitigation methods.
Keywords
- Carbon storage
- CO2
- Marine carbon chemistry
- Ocean
- Ocean acidification
- Seawater
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Andersson AJ, Mackenzie FT, Gattuso J-P (2011) Effects of ocean acidification on benthic processes, organisms, and ecosystems. In: Gattuso J-P, Hansson L (eds) Ocean acidification. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Archer D et al (2009) Atmospheric lifetime of fossil fuel carbon dioxide. Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci 3:117–134
Caldeira K et al (2005) Ocean storage. In: Metz B et al (eds) IPCC special report on carbon dioxide capture and storage. Prepared by Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Eisaman MD et al (2012) CO2 extraction from seawater using bipolar membrane electrodialysis. Energy Environ Sci 5:7346–7352
Harvey LDD (2008) Mitigating the atmospheric CO2 increase and ocean acidification by adding limestone powder to upwelling regions. J Geophys Res Oceans 113. doi:10.1029/2007JC004373
House KZ et al (2007) Electrochemical acceleration of chemical weathering as an energetically feasible approach to mitigating anthropogenic climate change. Environ Sci Technol 41:8464–8470
Jiao NZ et al (2011) The microbial carbon pump and the oceanic recalcitrant dissolved organic matter pool. Nat Rev Microbiol 9. doi:10.1038/nrmicro2386-c5
Kheshgi HS (1995) Sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide by increasing ocean alkalinity. Energy 20:915–922
Koehler et al (2013) Geoengineering impact of open ocean dissolution of olivine on atmospheric CO2, surface ocean pH and marine biology. Environ Res Lett 8, 14,009. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/014009
Lam PJ et al (2011) The dynamic ocean biological pump: insights from a global compilation of particulate organic carbon, CaCO3, and opal concentration profiles from the mesopelagic. Global Biogeochem Cycles 25, GB3009. doi:10.1029/2010GB003868
Lampitt RS et al (2008) Ocean fertilization: a potential means of geoengineering? Philos Trans Royal Soc A 366:3919–3945
Lovelock JE, Rapley CG (2007) Ocean pipes could help the Earth to cure itself. Nature 449:403
Marchetti C (1977) On geoengineering and the CO2 problem. Climatic Change 1:59–68
Martin JH (1991) Iron, Liebig’s law, and the greenhouse. Oceanography 4:52–55
Matear RJ, Elliott B (2004) Enhancement of oceanic uptake of anthropogenic CO2 by macronutrient fertilization. J Geophys Res Oceans 109, C04001. doi:10.1029/2000JC000321
Nikulshina V et al (2006) CO2 capture from air and co-production of H2 via the Ca(OH)2-CaCO3 cycle using concentrated solar power – thermodynamic analysis. Energy 31:1715–1725
Rau GH (2008) Electrochemical splitting of calcium carbonate to increase solution alkalinity: implications for mitigation of carbon dioxide and ocean acidity. Environ Sci Tech 42:8935–8940
Rau GH (2011) CO2 mitigation via capture and chemical conversion in seawater. Environ Sci Technol 45:1088–1092
Rau GH et al (2013) Direct electrolytic dissolution of silicate minerals for air CO2 mitigation and carbon-negative H2 production. Proc Nat Acad Sci 110:10095–10100
Rau GH, Caldeira K (1999) Enhanced carbonate dissolution: a means of sequestering waste CO2 as ocean bicarbonate. Energy Convers Manag 40:1803–1813
Rochelle GT (2009) Amine scrubbing for CO2 capture. Science 325:1652–1654
Schrag DP (2009) Storage of carbon dioxide in offshore sediments. Science 325:1658–1659
Strand SE, Benford G (2009) Ocean sequestration of crop residue carbon: recycling fossil fuel carbon back to deep sediments. Environ Sci Technol 43:1000–1007
Additional Recommended Reading
Gattuso J-P, Hansson L (2011) Ocean acidification. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Stephens JC, Keith DW (2008) Assessing geochemical carbon management. Clim Change 90:217–242
Zeebe RE, Wolf-Gladrow DA (2001) CO2 in seawater: equilibrium, kinetics, isotopes. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this entry
Cite this entry
Rau, G.H. (2014). Enhancing the Ocean’s Role in CO2 Mitigation. In: Freedman, B. (eds) Global Environmental Change. Handbook of Global Environmental Pollution, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5784-4_54
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5784-4_54
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-5783-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-5784-4
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences
