Full steam ahead: Ebb’s ocean carbon removal solution is up and running at PNNL-Sequim
Geoengineering News
At Ebb Carbon, our goal is to remove billions of tons of carbon dioxide from the air while locally reducing ocean acidification. To accomplish this, we have developed an ocean carbon dioxide removal (CDR) system that takes a proven electrochemical technology and applies it to the defining challenge of our time: climate change.
Today, I’m proud to share that Ebb Carbon is operating our first 100 ton ocean CDR system at the DOE’s only marine lab, Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL)-Sequim. We are fortunate to work alongside world-leading experts in ocean health, modeling and biogeochemistry from PNNL, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), and the University of Washington’s Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean and Ecosystem Studies (CICOES) and the Salish Sea Modeling Center (SSMC).
Building the scientific foundations for ocean carbon dioxide removal
Ebb will operate our system, which is roughly the size of a shipping container, at PNNL-Sequim’s marine labs lab for at least two years. In the lab, Ebb’s system processes seawater pumped in from Sequim Bay by passing it through a series of membranes. These membranes act like a filter, removing acid from the water. Once the acid is removed, the seawater can absorb additional CO₂ from the air and store it as bicarbonate—a safe and naturally abundant form of carbon storage in the ocean that doesn’t acidify seawater.
With our scientific collaborators, we are undertaking several important investigations. We are running experiments to measure and model how much CO₂ is removed from the air as a result of Ebb’s process. We are developing ocean modeling tools, so scientists can run virtual experiments to better understand how Ebb’s process captures and stores carbon and helps locally mitigate ocean acidification. We are also conducting lab experiments to understand any impacts on local marine biology like oysters and eelgrass epifauna—an important food source for salmon.
The results of this work will be published to help advance the field of ocean CDR, grow awareness and understanding of Ebb’s climate solution, and lay the foundations for a rigorous measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) methodology for Ebb’s ocean CDR solution.
Parallels to the solar industry
The similarities between the state of the ocean carbon dioxide removal industry today and the solar industry in the early 2000s are striking. Many of the technologies that can help us remove carbon dioxide from the air, like electrochemistry, aren’t new; it’s how we’re applying them to CDR and scaling them that’s novel. And just like in the early days of solar, ocean CDR needs expert scientific validators who can help gather and analyze the data that will build trust in, and acceptance of, this climate technology.
My time in the solar industry started on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the silicon photovoltaic cell by Bell Labs in 1954. In those early days, I spent a surprising amount of time side-by-side with scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado. Together, we were finding answers to the questions I most often heard from investors and customers: would the solar panels perform safely and reliably, day after day in the way we predicted? Would the panels last long enough to pay back the financing required to buy them in the first place?
Solar had never been a mainstream technology, so despite its 50 year history, the industry didn’t tackle the challenge of building broad acceptance and adoption until the 21st century. Meeting this challenge was an investment–and we had to start slow to go fast.
It took time to work with the experts at NREL to gather data, and then share that data to bridge the gaps in understanding between scientists, investors, and energy consumers. All of that deliberate, hard work to drive transparency and trust built the foundations of the solar industry as we know it today. The cost of solar has declined over 90% in the last decade, and by the end of 2020 there were approximately 2.7 million residential solar systems in the U.S.
Advancing Ebb’s climate solution
At Ebb, we are collaborating to advance our climate solution because we know that removing our first tons of CO₂ today in the right way will speed the way to removing billions of tons of CO₂ in the future. By working with national labs and academic partners, we’re anchoring our efforts to deploy safely and effectively in rigorous science.
Our work at PNNL-Sequim is just the beginning. As we work to safely and responsibly remove billions of tons of excess carbon dioxide from the air, we are eager to join forces with scientists, academics, NGOs, and local communities who want to help shape the future of ocean carbon removal. If this sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you.
-> Read our press announcement on the launch of our PNNL-Sequim site
SEQUIM BAY, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ebb Carbon – a climate technology startup founded by former Google X, Tesla, and SolarCity execs – has installed and begun operating its first marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) and ocean deacidification system at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) facility in Sequim, Washington, marking an important step as the company begins to deploy its technology following a recent Series A investment round.
“Given the realities of climate change, we must act quickly to deploy solutions to remove excess CO2 from the atmosphere,” said Ben Tarbell, CEO of Ebb Carbon.
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Ebb is taking a measured, science-based approach to its first deployment, partnering closely with some of the world’s most respected ocean monitoring and modeling institutions to gather and publicly share data about its technology. This approach is generating real-world, scientifically validated data that will provide visibility into Ebb’s carbon-removal process and provide a strong foundation of understanding to support responsible future deployments of this critical climate solution.
The collaborative partnership includes the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory - Sequim (PNNL-Sequim), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (NOAA/PMEL), the NOAA Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies (CICOES) and the Salish Sea Modeling Center, both at the University of Washington. Funding support is being provided by the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (OAP), the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), and the ClimateWorks Foundation.
“Given the realities of climate change, we must act quickly to deploy solutions to remove excess CO2 from the atmosphere,” said Ben Tarbell, CEO of Ebb Carbon. “It’s equally important that we do this in a way that is transparent and facilitates public dialogue so that scientists, researchers, policymakers, and communities have visibility into the process. We welcome the opportunity to work with some of the world’s leading scientists and researchers as we begin to scale our technology.”
Ebb's first system, which is roughly the size of a shipping container, processes seawater that is pumped into PNNL-Sequim's marine lab from Sequim Bay. The seawater passes through a series of membranes, which act like a filter, removing acid from the water. Once the acid is removed, the seawater can absorb additional carbon dioxide from the air and store it as bicarbonate in the water. Bicarbonate is a durable and naturally abundant form of carbon storage in the ocean.
Before returning to the ocean, the treated seawater will be held in open air tanks to facilitate research, experimentation and simulation to document the impacts of the process on CO2 sequestration, ocean deacidification, and local biology. The treated seawater will return to the ocean through PNNL's existing wastewater system in accordance with existing permits. The research team is also evaluating the potential to power the Ebb system using marine energy including energy from ocean waves, tides, currents, as well as salinity, thermal and pressure gradients.
The low-carbon acid that Ebb’s system produces can be used to neutralize alkaline waste locally. Ebb is in discussions with local sand and gravel operations who can utilize the acid to neutralize alkaline stormwater.
Ebb’s system in Sequim Bay has the capacity to remove up to 100 tons of atmospheric CO2 per year but will operate at a reduced capacity to allow for research by Ebb and its scientific partners. The system is designed to run intermittently, allowing it to leverage intermittent, low-carbon energy by ramping up and down based on the availability of local renewable energy sources.
Ebb's technology is designed to speed up a natural process that restores ocean chemistry by neutralizing excess acidity. This increased acidity is the direct result of human-generated CO2 emissions over the last 200 years, and threatens marine ecosystems. Ebb’s process of deacidification not only restores ocean chemistry; it also enables seawater to safely draw down atmospheric CO2 by converting it to bicarbonate – the ocean’s natural storage solution for CO2 – without adding additional acidity. At scale, Ebb’s technology can play a meaningful role in removing already-emitted CO2 from Earth’s atmosphere – an estimated 6-10 billion tons of which will need to be removed each year until 2050 in order to meet climate targets (in addition to large-scale decarbonization efforts).
This first deployment of Ebb’s system comes shortly after the company announced its Series A investment round. Since that announcement in April, Ebb has added a number of additional funders to the round, including the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (via a strategic program investment) and Propeller.
Partner Quotes
“We hope Ebb Carbon's technology could help remove CO2 from the atmosphere as well as ease ocean acidification locally,” said Brendan Carter, a University of Washington research scientist working with NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory on seawater carbon chemistry. “We are excited to test the method at the PNNL facility.”
“Although rising temperatures are harming oceans, oceans are a powerful ally in combatting climate change,” said Jan Mazurek, Senior Director of Carbon Dioxide Removal, ClimateWorks Foundation. “ClimateWorks is pleased to join federal partners and the University of Washington to ensure that emerging marine carbon dioxide removal approaches are safe to marine life, coastal communities, and Indigenous peoples, and help foster conditions for ongoing innovation that creates new clean energy jobs.”
Source: Ebb Carbon & BusinessWire