Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE)

Summary

Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement is addition of alkaline minerals or driving of chemical processes to simultaneously create alkalinity and dissolve carbon dioxide - generally by forming bicarbonate ions (HCO3-). When CO2 dissolves in water and reacts with the water, it forms dissolved inorganic carbon ions which are negatively charged, and a corresponding number of positively charged hydrogen ions - which are acid. To compensate for this acidification, some neutralization process must be employed. This may be done by using silicate minerals, which will spontaneously “weather” .

History

Stub - March 2023, updated with Equatic process - April 2023

Forms and Variations

{other CDR approaches related to OAE}

Notable Projects

{detailed description of exemplar project(s)}
{policy issues and initiatives related to OAE}

Further Learning

This Is CDR E04 - ways of Ocean CDR
This Is CDR E06 - electrochemical alkalinity
This Is CDR E16 - Seachange electrolytic alkalinization of seawater with carbonate formation
This Is CDR E38 - Captura ocean electrochemical CDR
This Is CDR E49 - MRV for ocean-based CDR

https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/a-research-strategy-for-ocean-carbon-dioxide-removal-and-sequestration

https://chemrxiv.org/engage/api-gateway/chemrxiv/assets/orp/resource/item/63b47348e8047a4fb6ff0466/original/electrolytic-seawater-mineralization-and-how-it-ensures-net-carbon-dioxide-removal.pdf - a reference paper for the Equatic process
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c08561 - a reference paper for the Equatic process

{universities and companies engaged in OAE projects}
Equatic (formerly Sea Change)
{literature and conferences related to OAE}
{foundations, trusts, and agencies funding OAE-related projects}