AGU Meeting Geoengineering Related Abstracts-7
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Alvia Gaskill
Dec 5, 2008, 7:33:41 PM12/5/08
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B31G-0377
TI: Ocean fertilization, carbon credits and the Kyoto Protocol
AU: * Westley, M B
EM: marian....@noaa.gov
AF: NOAA GFDL, 201 Forrestal Road, Princeton, NJ 08540, United States
AU: Gnanadesikan, A
EM: anand.gna...@noaa.gov
AF: NOAA GFDL, 201 Forrestal Road, Princeton, NJ 08540, United States
AB: Commercial interest in ocean fertilization as a carbon sequestration tool was excited by the December 1997 agreement of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change. The Protocol commits industrialized countries to caps on net greenhouse gas emissions and allows for various flexible mechanisms to achieve these caps in the most economically efficient manner possible, including trade in carbon credits from projects that reduce emissions or enhance sinks. The carbon market was valued at $64 billion in 2007, with the bulk of the trading ($50 billion) taking place in the highly regulated European Union Emission Trading Scheme, which deals primarily in emission allowances in the energy sector. A much smaller amount, worth $265 million, was traded in the largely unregulated "voluntary" market (Capoor and Ambrosi 2008). As the voluntary market grows, so do calls for its regulation, with several efforts underway to set rules and standards for the sale of voluntary carbon credits using the Kyoto Protocol as a starting point. Four US-based companies and an Australian company currently seek to develop ocean fertilization technologies for the generation of carbon credits. We review these plans through the lens of the Kyoto Protocol and its flexible mechanisms, and examine whether and how ocean fertilization could generate tradable carbon credits. We note that at present, ocean sinks are not included in the Kyoto Protocol, and that furthermore, the Kyoto Protocol only addresses sources and sinks of greenhouse gases within national boundaries, making open-ocean fertilization projects a jurisdictional challenge. We discuss the negotiating history behind the limited inclusion of land use, land use change and forestry in the Kyoto Protocol and the controversy and eventual compromise concerning methodologies for terrestrial carbon accounting. We conclude that current technologies for measuring and monitoring carbon sequestration following ocean fertilization are unlikely to meet the Kyoto Protocol's verification and accounting standards for trading carbon credits on the regulated market. The marketability of ocean fertilization in the voluntary carbon marketplace will likely depend on companies' efforts to minimize environmental risks and consumers' willingness to accept remaining risks.
DE: 0428 Carbon cycling (4806)
DE: 0460 Marine systems (4800)
DE: 0485 Science policy (6620)
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2008 Fall Meeting
TI: Ocean fertilization, carbon credits and the Kyoto Protocol
AU: * Westley, M B
EM: marian....@noaa.gov
AF: NOAA GFDL, 201 Forrestal Road, Princeton, NJ 08540, United States
AU: Gnanadesikan, A
EM: anand.gna...@noaa.gov
AF: NOAA GFDL, 201 Forrestal Road, Princeton, NJ 08540, United States
AB: Commercial interest in ocean fertilization as a carbon sequestration tool was excited by the December 1997 agreement of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change. The Protocol commits industrialized countries to caps on net greenhouse gas emissions and allows for various flexible mechanisms to achieve these caps in the most economically efficient manner possible, including trade in carbon credits from projects that reduce emissions or enhance sinks. The carbon market was valued at $64 billion in 2007, with the bulk of the trading ($50 billion) taking place in the highly regulated European Union Emission Trading Scheme, which deals primarily in emission allowances in the energy sector. A much smaller amount, worth $265 million, was traded in the largely unregulated "voluntary" market (Capoor and Ambrosi 2008). As the voluntary market grows, so do calls for its regulation, with several efforts underway to set rules and standards for the sale of voluntary carbon credits using the Kyoto Protocol as a starting point. Four US-based companies and an Australian company currently seek to develop ocean fertilization technologies for the generation of carbon credits. We review these plans through the lens of the Kyoto Protocol and its flexible mechanisms, and examine whether and how ocean fertilization could generate tradable carbon credits. We note that at present, ocean sinks are not included in the Kyoto Protocol, and that furthermore, the Kyoto Protocol only addresses sources and sinks of greenhouse gases within national boundaries, making open-ocean fertilization projects a jurisdictional challenge. We discuss the negotiating history behind the limited inclusion of land use, land use change and forestry in the Kyoto Protocol and the controversy and eventual compromise concerning methodologies for terrestrial carbon accounting. We conclude that current technologies for measuring and monitoring carbon sequestration following ocean fertilization are unlikely to meet the Kyoto Protocol's verification and accounting standards for trading carbon credits on the regulated market. The marketability of ocean fertilization in the voluntary carbon marketplace will likely depend on companies' efforts to minimize environmental risks and consumers' willingness to accept remaining risks.
DE: 0428 Carbon cycling (4806)
DE: 0460 Marine systems (4800)
DE: 0485 Science policy (6620)
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2008 Fall Meeting
[Comments. Sounds like an interesting
presentation. I was only aware of two, possibly three companies
attempting to develop ocean fertilization technologies to cash in on carbon
credits. Climos, Atmocean?, Ocean Nourishment and who are the
other two? Planktos is kaput. AG]
0800h
AN: B31G-0367
TI: The impact of iron fertilization on the upper ocean heat budget
AU: * Strutton, P G
EM: stru...@coas.oregonstate.edu
AF: College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, 104 COAS Admin, Corvallis, OR 97331, United States
AB: Oceanic iron fertilization has been suggested as a mitigation mechanism to enhance the biological sequestration of anthropogenic CO2 in the deep ocean. However, the phytoplankton blooms that are intended to sequester CO2 also change the upper ocean heat budget by increasing the attenuation of solar radiation near the surface. This process is in some ways analogous to the trade-off between enhanced carbon uptake and reduced albedo that accompanies reforestation. Field data and a 1D model show that iron-induced phytoplankton blooms increase the net heat flux from ocean to atmosphere by as much as 12 W/m2, depending on the geographic location of the bloom (the Southern Ocean, equatorial Pacific and sub- arctic Pacific are considered here). Heating of the mixed layer also increases stratification, slowing the vertical transport of nutrients that are necessary for sustaining the bloom.
DE: 0414 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling (0412, 0793, 1615, 4805, 4912)
DE: 0428 Carbon cycling (4806)
DE: 4504 Air/sea interactions (0312, 3339)
DE: 4805 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling (0412, 0414, 0793, 1615, 4912)
DE: 4806 Carbon cycling (0428)
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2008 Fall Meeting
AN: B31G-0367
TI: The impact of iron fertilization on the upper ocean heat budget
AU: * Strutton, P G
EM: stru...@coas.oregonstate.edu
AF: College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, 104 COAS Admin, Corvallis, OR 97331, United States
AB: Oceanic iron fertilization has been suggested as a mitigation mechanism to enhance the biological sequestration of anthropogenic CO2 in the deep ocean. However, the phytoplankton blooms that are intended to sequester CO2 also change the upper ocean heat budget by increasing the attenuation of solar radiation near the surface. This process is in some ways analogous to the trade-off between enhanced carbon uptake and reduced albedo that accompanies reforestation. Field data and a 1D model show that iron-induced phytoplankton blooms increase the net heat flux from ocean to atmosphere by as much as 12 W/m2, depending on the geographic location of the bloom (the Southern Ocean, equatorial Pacific and sub- arctic Pacific are considered here). Heating of the mixed layer also increases stratification, slowing the vertical transport of nutrients that are necessary for sustaining the bloom.
DE: 0414 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling (0412, 0793, 1615, 4805, 4912)
DE: 0428 Carbon cycling (4806)
DE: 4504 Air/sea interactions (0312, 3339)
DE: 4805 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling (0412, 0414, 0793, 1615, 4912)
DE: 4806 Carbon cycling (0428)
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2008 Fall Meeting
[Comments. Albino
algae anyone? AG]
11:50h
AN: B22C-07
TI: Regulation of Ocean Iron Fertilization (OIF): a Model for Balancing Research, Environmental and Policy Concerns
AU: * Leinen, M
EM: mle...@climos.com
AF: Climos, Inc., 119 S. Columbus Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, United States
AU: LaMotte, R
EM: rlam...@bdlaw.com
AF: Beveridge and Diamond, 1350 I Street Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005, United States
AB: The potential of enhancing carbon sequestration by the biosphere for climate mitigation often raises questions of offsetting effects. These questions become more important as the scale of the enhancement increases. Ocean iron fertilization is accompanied by additional questions related to use of the ocean commons. The London Convention (LC) and London Protocol (LP), international treaties adopted in 1972 and 1996 respectively, were designed to prevent use of the ocean for disposal of toxic, harmful and radioactive pollutants. Recently the LC/LP has been called upon to decide whether climate mitigation activities, such as subseafloor injection of CO2 and OIF, are legal under the framework and, if so, how they should be regulated. The broad consultation with the science community by the LC/LP in developing their perspective, and the involvement of the NGO community in these deliberations, provides a model for the process that the international policy community can use to develop science-based regulatory guidelines for carbon mitigation projects involving the commons. And the substance of that emerging regulatory framework -- built on a national-level permitting process informed by internationally agreed guidelines and standards -- may also serve as a model for the oversight of other emerging technologies that take place in the global commons.
DE: 0414 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling (0412, 0793, 1615, 4805, 4912)
DE: 0428 Carbon cycling (4806)
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2008 Fall Meeting
AN: B22C-07
TI: Regulation of Ocean Iron Fertilization (OIF): a Model for Balancing Research, Environmental and Policy Concerns
AU: * Leinen, M
EM: mle...@climos.com
AF: Climos, Inc., 119 S. Columbus Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, United States
AU: LaMotte, R
EM: rlam...@bdlaw.com
AF: Beveridge and Diamond, 1350 I Street Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005, United States
AB: The potential of enhancing carbon sequestration by the biosphere for climate mitigation often raises questions of offsetting effects. These questions become more important as the scale of the enhancement increases. Ocean iron fertilization is accompanied by additional questions related to use of the ocean commons. The London Convention (LC) and London Protocol (LP), international treaties adopted in 1972 and 1996 respectively, were designed to prevent use of the ocean for disposal of toxic, harmful and radioactive pollutants. Recently the LC/LP has been called upon to decide whether climate mitigation activities, such as subseafloor injection of CO2 and OIF, are legal under the framework and, if so, how they should be regulated. The broad consultation with the science community by the LC/LP in developing their perspective, and the involvement of the NGO community in these deliberations, provides a model for the process that the international policy community can use to develop science-based regulatory guidelines for carbon mitigation projects involving the commons. And the substance of that emerging regulatory framework -- built on a national-level permitting process informed by internationally agreed guidelines and standards -- may also serve as a model for the oversight of other emerging technologies that take place in the global commons.
DE: 0414 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling (0412, 0793, 1615, 4805, 4912)
DE: 0428 Carbon cycling (4806)
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2008 Fall Meeting
17:05h
AN: OS34B-04
TI: Conceptual Approaches to Testing the Efficiency and Impact of Ocean Iron Fertilization (OIF) for Enhancing CO2 Storage in the Ocean
AU: Whilden, K
EM: kwhi...@climos.com
AF: Climos, 512 2nd Street, 4th floor, San Francisco, CA 94107, United States
AU: * Leinen, M
EM: mle...@climos.com
AF: Climos, 512 2nd Street, 4th floor, San Francisco, CA 94107, United States
AU: Whaley, D
EM: dwh...@climos.com
AF: Climos, 512 2nd Street, 4th floor, San Francisco, CA 94107, United States
AB: Recent experiments to determine the efficiency of carbon sequestration during natural and artificially stimulated phytoplankton blooms suggest that bloom events can transfer as much as 50% of the new phytoplankton production to depths below 500 m. Such efficiencies would make OIF a cost-effective mechanism for CO2 mitigation. In order to further quantify sequestration and to determine its impact on the ocean environment, the scientific community has proposed larger (up to 200 × 200 km) OIF experiments and has suggested that they be monitored for longer periods of time than previous experiments (up to 70 days). In addition, new technologies for measurement and more sophisticated modeling to both design the experiment and project its impact have been proposed. We will report on a proposed project conceptual design for such an experiment.
DE: 0428 Carbon cycling (4806)
DE: 4806 Carbon cycling (0428)
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2008 Fall Meeting
AN: OS34B-04
TI: Conceptual Approaches to Testing the Efficiency and Impact of Ocean Iron Fertilization (OIF) for Enhancing CO2 Storage in the Ocean
AU: Whilden, K
EM: kwhi...@climos.com
AF: Climos, 512 2nd Street, 4th floor, San Francisco, CA 94107, United States
AU: * Leinen, M
EM: mle...@climos.com
AF: Climos, 512 2nd Street, 4th floor, San Francisco, CA 94107, United States
AU: Whaley, D
EM: dwh...@climos.com
AF: Climos, 512 2nd Street, 4th floor, San Francisco, CA 94107, United States
AB: Recent experiments to determine the efficiency of carbon sequestration during natural and artificially stimulated phytoplankton blooms suggest that bloom events can transfer as much as 50% of the new phytoplankton production to depths below 500 m. Such efficiencies would make OIF a cost-effective mechanism for CO2 mitigation. In order to further quantify sequestration and to determine its impact on the ocean environment, the scientific community has proposed larger (up to 200 × 200 km) OIF experiments and has suggested that they be monitored for longer periods of time than previous experiments (up to 70 days). In addition, new technologies for measurement and more sophisticated modeling to both design the experiment and project its impact have been proposed. We will report on a proposed project conceptual design for such an experiment.
DE: 0428 Carbon cycling (4806)
DE: 4806 Carbon cycling (0428)
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2008 Fall Meeting
11:35h
AN: B22C-06
TI: Ocean Fertilization and Ocean Acidification
AU: * Cao, L
EM: lon...@stanford.edu
AF: Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution, 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA 94305, United States
AU: Caldeira, K
EM: kcal...@stanford.edu
AF: Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution, 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA 94305, United States
AB: It has been suggested that ocean fertilization could help diminish ocean acidification. Here, we quantitatively evaluate this suggestion. Ocean fertilization is one of several ocean methods proposed to mitigate atmospheric CO2 concentrations. The basic idea of this method is to enhance the biological uptake of atmospheric CO2 by stimulating net phytoplankton growth through the addition of iron to the surface ocean. Concern has been expressed that ocean fertilization may not be very effective at reducing atmospheric CO2 concentrations and may produce unintended environmental consequences. The rationale for thinking that ocean fertilization might help diminish ocean acidification is that dissolved inorganic carbon concentrations in the near-surface equilibrate with the atmosphere in about a year. If ocean fertilization could reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations, it would also reduce surface ocean dissolved inorganic carbon concentrations, and thus diminish the degree of ocean acidification. To evaluate this line of thinking, we use a global ocean carbon cycle model with a simple representation of marine biology and investigate the maximum potential effect of ocean fertilization on ocean carbonate chemistry. We find that the effect of ocean fertilization on ocean acidification depends, in part, on the context in which ocean fertilization is performed. With fixed emissions of CO2 to the atmosphere, ocean fertilization moderately mitigates changes in ocean carbonate chemistry near the ocean surface, but at the expense of further acidifying the deep ocean. Under the SRES A2 CO2 emission scenario, by year 2100 simulated atmospheric CO2, global mean surface pH, and saturation state of aragonite is 965 ppm, 7.74, and 1.55 for the scenario without fertilization and 833 ppm, 7.80, and 1.71 for the scenario with 100-year (between 2000 and 2100) continuous fertilization for the global ocean (For comparison, pre-industrial global mean surface pH and saturation state of aragonite is 8.18 and 3.5). As a result of ocean fertilization, 10 years from now, the depth of saturation horizon (the depth below which ocean water is undersaturated with respect to calcium carbonate) for aragonite in the Southern Ocean shoals from its present average value of about 700 m to 100 m. In contrast, no significant change in the depth of aragonite saturation horizontal is seen in the scenario without fertilization for the corresponding period. By year 2100, global mean calcite saturation horizon shoals from its present value of 3150 m to 2965 and 2534 m in the case without fertilization and with it. In contrast, if the sale of carbon credits from ocean fertilization leads to greater CO2 emissions to the atmosphere (e.g., if carbon credits from ocean fertilization are used to offset CO2 emissions from a coal plant), then there is the potential that ocean fertilization would further acidify the deep ocean without conferring any chemical benefit to surface ocean waters.
DE: 0793 Biogeochemistry (0412, 0414, 1615, 4805, 4912)
DE: 1615 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling (0412, 0414, 0793, 4805, 4912)
DE: 4800 OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL (0460)
DE: 4806 Carbon cycling (0428)
DE: 4875 Trace elements (0489)
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2008 Fall Meeting
AN: B22C-06
TI: Ocean Fertilization and Ocean Acidification
AU: * Cao, L
EM: lon...@stanford.edu
AF: Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution, 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA 94305, United States
AU: Caldeira, K
EM: kcal...@stanford.edu
AF: Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution, 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA 94305, United States
AB: It has been suggested that ocean fertilization could help diminish ocean acidification. Here, we quantitatively evaluate this suggestion. Ocean fertilization is one of several ocean methods proposed to mitigate atmospheric CO2 concentrations. The basic idea of this method is to enhance the biological uptake of atmospheric CO2 by stimulating net phytoplankton growth through the addition of iron to the surface ocean. Concern has been expressed that ocean fertilization may not be very effective at reducing atmospheric CO2 concentrations and may produce unintended environmental consequences. The rationale for thinking that ocean fertilization might help diminish ocean acidification is that dissolved inorganic carbon concentrations in the near-surface equilibrate with the atmosphere in about a year. If ocean fertilization could reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations, it would also reduce surface ocean dissolved inorganic carbon concentrations, and thus diminish the degree of ocean acidification. To evaluate this line of thinking, we use a global ocean carbon cycle model with a simple representation of marine biology and investigate the maximum potential effect of ocean fertilization on ocean carbonate chemistry. We find that the effect of ocean fertilization on ocean acidification depends, in part, on the context in which ocean fertilization is performed. With fixed emissions of CO2 to the atmosphere, ocean fertilization moderately mitigates changes in ocean carbonate chemistry near the ocean surface, but at the expense of further acidifying the deep ocean. Under the SRES A2 CO2 emission scenario, by year 2100 simulated atmospheric CO2, global mean surface pH, and saturation state of aragonite is 965 ppm, 7.74, and 1.55 for the scenario without fertilization and 833 ppm, 7.80, and 1.71 for the scenario with 100-year (between 2000 and 2100) continuous fertilization for the global ocean (For comparison, pre-industrial global mean surface pH and saturation state of aragonite is 8.18 and 3.5). As a result of ocean fertilization, 10 years from now, the depth of saturation horizon (the depth below which ocean water is undersaturated with respect to calcium carbonate) for aragonite in the Southern Ocean shoals from its present average value of about 700 m to 100 m. In contrast, no significant change in the depth of aragonite saturation horizontal is seen in the scenario without fertilization for the corresponding period. By year 2100, global mean calcite saturation horizon shoals from its present value of 3150 m to 2965 and 2534 m in the case without fertilization and with it. In contrast, if the sale of carbon credits from ocean fertilization leads to greater CO2 emissions to the atmosphere (e.g., if carbon credits from ocean fertilization are used to offset CO2 emissions from a coal plant), then there is the potential that ocean fertilization would further acidify the deep ocean without conferring any chemical benefit to surface ocean waters.
DE: 0793 Biogeochemistry (0412, 0414, 1615, 4805, 4912)
DE: 1615 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling (0412, 0414, 0793, 4805, 4912)
DE: 4800 OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL (0460)
DE: 4806 Carbon cycling (0428)
DE: 4875 Trace elements (0489)
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2008 Fall Meeting
[Comments. So unless
the OIF credits are only used to offset nitrous oxide or halogen gases , i.e.
instead of CO2 emissions or methane that will oxidize to CO2, they
are useless as a mitigator of ocean acidification? The other case
where they might have some benefit is where their use is not tied to credits,
but then who pays for the OIF? In this case, OIF would be used like
aerosols or cloud brightening, to reduce the impact of global warming, but
without a direct tie in to carbon credits. Also, the world "shoals"
means to become more shallow for those not familiar with it.
AG]
16:10h
AN: OS34B-01 INVITED
TI: Engineered Carbon Storage in the Oceans
AU: * Caldeira, K
EM: kcal...@dge.stanford.edu
AF: Carnegie Institution Dept. of Global Ecology, 260 Panama St., Stanford, CA 94035, United States
AU: Cao, L
EM: lon...@dge.stanford.edu
AF: Carnegie Institution Dept. of Global Ecology, 260 Panama St., Stanford, CA 94035, United States
AB: The amount of carbon in the ocean is large relative to the amount of fossil-fuel resources. The oceans are currently absorbing over 8 billion tons of anthropogenic carbon dioxide each year and will eventually absorb most anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. These observations have led many to ask whether it might be helpful to engineer an acceleration of this transfer of carbon to the oceans, and, if so, to understand how this feat might be accomplished most economically and with a minimum of adverse environmental consequence. There is no unique taxonomy of engineered ocean carbon storage options, but they might broadly be divided into three categories, depending on whether they depend for their efficacy primarily upon physics, chemistry, or biology. Physics. Carbon dioxide could be captured from power plants and injected deep in the ocean, where physical mixing processes could keep it isolated from the atmosphere for centuries. Sub-species of this category include injection of carbon dioxide directly into the deep ocean, into seafloor lakes, or into engineered containment vessels. Chemistry. Alkalinity, derived from limestone or other minerals, could be added to the ocean, causing carbon to be stored effectively permanently in the oceans primarily in the form of bicarbonate ions. Sub- species of this category include the dissolution of calcium carbon at power plants or in deep-waters near upwelling zones. Biology. Some of the organic matter sinking from the surface ocean to the deep ocean is replaced by carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Thus, it has been proposed that we should attempt to diminish atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations by fertilizing the oceans. Sub-species of this category include fertilization with micronutrients such as iron or macronutrients such as nitrogen or phosphorus. This talk will present this taxonomy and quantitatively discuss some of the pros and cons and unanswered research questions associated with each approach.
DE: 1615 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling (0412, 0414, 0793, 4805, 4912)
DE: 1622 Earth system modeling (1225)
DE: 4255 Numerical modeling (0545, 0560)
DE: 4800 OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL (0460)
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2008 Fall Meeting
AN: OS34B-01 INVITED
TI: Engineered Carbon Storage in the Oceans
AU: * Caldeira, K
EM: kcal...@dge.stanford.edu
AF: Carnegie Institution Dept. of Global Ecology, 260 Panama St., Stanford, CA 94035, United States
AU: Cao, L
EM: lon...@dge.stanford.edu
AF: Carnegie Institution Dept. of Global Ecology, 260 Panama St., Stanford, CA 94035, United States
AB: The amount of carbon in the ocean is large relative to the amount of fossil-fuel resources. The oceans are currently absorbing over 8 billion tons of anthropogenic carbon dioxide each year and will eventually absorb most anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. These observations have led many to ask whether it might be helpful to engineer an acceleration of this transfer of carbon to the oceans, and, if so, to understand how this feat might be accomplished most economically and with a minimum of adverse environmental consequence. There is no unique taxonomy of engineered ocean carbon storage options, but they might broadly be divided into three categories, depending on whether they depend for their efficacy primarily upon physics, chemistry, or biology. Physics. Carbon dioxide could be captured from power plants and injected deep in the ocean, where physical mixing processes could keep it isolated from the atmosphere for centuries. Sub-species of this category include injection of carbon dioxide directly into the deep ocean, into seafloor lakes, or into engineered containment vessels. Chemistry. Alkalinity, derived from limestone or other minerals, could be added to the ocean, causing carbon to be stored effectively permanently in the oceans primarily in the form of bicarbonate ions. Sub- species of this category include the dissolution of calcium carbon at power plants or in deep-waters near upwelling zones. Biology. Some of the organic matter sinking from the surface ocean to the deep ocean is replaced by carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Thus, it has been proposed that we should attempt to diminish atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations by fertilizing the oceans. Sub-species of this category include fertilization with micronutrients such as iron or macronutrients such as nitrogen or phosphorus. This talk will present this taxonomy and quantitatively discuss some of the pros and cons and unanswered research questions associated with each approach.
DE: 1615 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling (0412, 0414, 0793, 4805, 4912)
DE: 1622 Earth system modeling (1225)
DE: 4255 Numerical modeling (0545, 0560)
DE: 4800 OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL (0460)
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2008 Fall Meeting
[Comments. A good overview that is needed to bring some of this
disparate material into context. AG]
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