- The first-ever field test of ocean alkalinity enhancement in the United States was pushed back to 2025 due to shipping issues. But the geoengineering experiment has also run into public opposition from local environmentalists, commercial fishers and others.
- The test would dump sodium hydroxide (commonly called lye) off the New England coast to study its dispersal as a potential tool for sequestering CO₂.
- Opponents allege this small-scale geoengineering test could harm local wildlife, but researchers say the material will disperse within minutes.
- The scientists say they will also continue to reach out to local communities to alleviate fears over the study.
A controversial experiment to field-test a way to quickly sequester more carbon in the world’s oceans has been pushed back until 2025, according to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
The LOC-NESS project, headed by WHOI, had planned to disseminate 20 metric tons of sodium hydroxide (commonly known as lye) along with tracer dye into the waters off the coast of New England this September. The experiment is meant to test a geoengineering technology known as ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE).
OAE is a potential avenue for soaking up carbon quickly and for hopefully combating the worst looming impacts of climate change. But the test has run into issues, including a delay regarding the vessel to be used, plus local pushback.
Adam Subhas, a WHOI associate scientist in marine chemistry and geochemistry, who is working on the LOC-NESS project (short for Locking Ocean Carbon in the Northeast Shelf and Slope), said the test was pushed back until next year because the ship the research team planned to use was no longer available.
“WHOI explored finding a potential replacement vessel, but it was not available until late September [of this year], with the possibility of additional delays due to the anticipated active hurricane season,” Subhas said. So, the scientists “concluded that the ocean conditions this late in the season would be significantly less favorable for the research, which is dependent on warmer ocean temperatures.”
OAE theoretically works like this: You dump alkaline material into the ocean (in this case sodium hydroxide), which reacts with dissolved CO2 in the water. This turns marine CO2 into stable forms of bicarbonate or carbonate, essentially locking it away. Then — and this is key — the ocean will be able to sequester more atmospheric CO2 to fill the gap. The ocean already stores a great deal of CO2 naturally on long timescales, but dumping lye or a mineral such as olivine, would speed up the process. If large-scale deployment is one day achieved, OAE could remove a significant amount of CO2 from the atmosphere, giving policymakers and fossil fuel companies more time to cut atmospheric emissions.
“The goal of this independent, scientific research project is not to sell carbon credits, but to fill critical knowledge gaps that can contribute to addressing climate change,” Subhas said. This early phase of research “involves releasing a dissolved form of alkalinity that will quickly dilute to within safe water quality limits in minutes, in order to help answer key questions related to environmental impact and effectiveness of OAE.” Such studies are intended to help prevent unforeseen negative consequences if large-scale deployment of OAE is approved in the future.
While this kind of experiment has been run in climate models and tested in off-site experiments, it has rarely been tested in the ocean — where large-scale deployment would need to happen. In fact, had this test moved forward on time, it would have been the first OAE test in U.S. waters.
The Biden administration has called for geoengineering technology tests and provides funding via NOAA. The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has also called for research into and implementation of large-scale carbon dioxide removal, known as CDR, including, potentially, OAE. The IPCC has stated that CDR will be required if the world is to hit net zero targets and reduce the risk of the worst climate impacts.
Besides the ship delay, the planned experiment also caused a stir among local environmentalists and with commercial fishers — a controversy featured in regional media reporting over the summer.
“We unequivocally oppose the proposed LOC-NESS geoengineering experiment. It’s astonishing that the EPA is even considering allowing dangerous, caustic chemicals to be dumped in ocean waters that are frequented by at least eight endangered species, including right whales and leatherback turtles,” said Benjamin Day, a senior campaigner with Friends of the Earth’s Climate and Energy Justice program. One commercial fisher expressed his concern, noting that the area targeted for the experiment has produced 30-40% of his catch over the past 37 years.
Researchers contend the sodium hydroxide will quickly disperse and “will affect only a relatively small number of phytoplankton and zooplankton located directly in the discharge area,” according to the WHOI website. NOAA Fisheries wrote that the small experiment would have an “insignificant impact” on key wildlife species.
“We care about the environment, too,” Dan McCorkle, co-principal investigator of the project, told Boston’s NPR station, WBUR. “We wouldn’t be doing this if we thought there was going to be a big impact [on marine life].”
Most geoengineering technologies, including large-scale carbon sequestration ideas, have not been tested in the field.
“Delays are not uncommon in complex projects, and this is no different,” said David Koweek, chief scientist at U.S.-based Ocean Visions, an NGO that is looking at OAE. Koweek is not involved with the WHOI study. “It’s important to have the right set of ocean conditions to maximize the likelihood that the field trial generates high-quality information to characterize the efficacy and impacts of ocean alkalinity enhancement.”
Several high-profile geoengineering tests have recently run into public opposition and been scrubbed because of it. Most recently, University of Washington researchers saw their small experiment halted and then canceled by local officials. That field test would have studied a geoengineering technology known as marine cloud brightening by shooting a small amount of salt particles into the atmosphere from a ship off the California coast.
Many scientists argue that humanity urgently needs field tests of these various techniques to determine how they work and how to assure their safety, especially as climate change continues to spiral into increasingly dangerous territory. This year is on track to be the hottest on record, and without action, the impacts of climate change — from record heat waves to worsening fires, floods, droughts and rising sea levels — will only escalate.
Subhas said the WHOI researchers are continuing to meet with locals to try to alleviate concerns.
“It is critical that this research gets brought out of the laboratory and into the real world, and that means engaging with a range of interested groups,” he said. “The team is continuing to meet with regional groups and communities such as fishers and tribal leaders, state and federal regulators and policymakers and the general public. We have completed more than 20 engagement sessions, with many more in the works for the coming months.”
Banner image: The Atlantic Ocean from Massachusetts. Image by FotoFloridian via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0).
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