Solution: We need to remove carbon dioxide floating in the ocean.

ㆍStill capturing carbon from the air? For ‘net zero’ to be achieved, we should shift our focus to capturing carbon dioxide from the ocean.

ㆍ‘BlueCaBorn’ reduces carbon in an eco-friendly manner by absorbing carbon dioxide from seawater and turning it into minerals.

ㆍIn addition to capturing carbon dioxide from coastal factory zones, this technology may be crucial for building sea cities.

A giant carbon store

If you want to capture carbon, you can look to the ocean. The oceans hold about 40% of the carbon dioxide that humans produce. Approximately 37 billion tons of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere annually. The oceans play a crucial role in regulating the Earth’s climate and balancing the carbon cycle by absorbing heat and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Most of the carbon dioxide is stored in the ocean’s surface layer. As a result, there is ongoing global research and development of CCUS (Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage) technologies to remove carbon from the ocean’s surface. Despite attempts to remove carbon by alkalizing the ocean, sprinkling iron in the ocean to foster the absorption of carbon, or creating electrochemical reactions in the sea, these methods have been impractical due to cost and time constraints. “If we can sequester the carbon dioxide in the ocean to the seafloor or mineralize it, carbon removal could be successful,” states BlueCaBorn, a South Korean startup. According to Hwang Dong-soo, a professor at POSTECH, the startup is independently researching the technology to mineralize carbon using artificial coral particles.

Carbon dioxide is reborn!

Blue carbon refers to carbon that is naturally absorbed by marine ecosystems. It can be absorbed by sea creatures, as well as by mangroves, salt marshes, and algae. But what if we could surpass capturing carbon dioxide and transform it into a new resource? That’s what inspired BlueCaBorn’s mission, says Professor Hwang. Their focus is on artificial plankton. Calcareous flagellates are capable of absorbing carbon dioxide from the ocean using photosynthesis and encasing themselves in calcium carbonate shells known as calcareous scales. They contribute to 10% of the ocean’s carbon fixation. BlueCaBorn has identified the potential for technology to capture carbon from seawater using artificial plankton and has developed Artificial Coccolith (AC) particles that mimic calcium scales. The AC particles absorb carbon dioxide from seawater and facilitate calcium carbonate mineralization. This process usually takes months to decades in natural marine organisms or artificial seawater environments. However, with BlueCarbon’s technology, this process can be accomplished in just one day. This technology, requiring only the installation of artificial plankton, is a low-cost method for capturing carbon dioxide from seawater. BlueCaBorn’s carbon dioxide mineralization technology is the first of its kind in the world and has been patented.

*Carbon fixation: The process of living organisms converting inorganic carbon into organic compounds.

Plug in the carbon capture pole

Industrialized areas near the sea, such as power plants, petrochemical refineries, steel mills, and seawater desalination processes, are typically located along rivers and coasts to draw water for industrial use. Professor Hwang explains that carbon dioxide can be captured from seawater using seawater carbon dioxide stripping technology with AC columns in industrial facilities in coastal industrial zones worldwide. A carbon capture column, acting as a filter, is installed on the path of industrial water, and seawater with removed carbon is discharged into the sea. In the AC column, carbon dioxide is mineralized into calcium carbonate. Companies can easily convert the captured carbonate minerals into carbon taxes. As a result, BlueCaBorn sees itself as a technology platform in the voluntary carbon market through seawater carbon dioxide removal technology. BlueCaBorn is currently in its Proof of Concept phase, which it aims to complete within five years and then enter the global market.

*Carbon dioxide stripping: A process that selectively recovers carbon dioxide from fossil fuels, such as thermal power plants, steel mills, and cement plants, and is divided into pre-combustion and post-combustion, and wet and dry depending on the technology.

*Voluntary carbon market: Companies or organizations voluntarily participate in carbon reduction projects to generate and trade carbon credits. Carbon credits represent the value of greenhouse gas emission reductions and absorption.

The new experiments and challenges they are undertaking are significant for the future of humanity. As we continue to inhabit the ocean, the amount of carbon we introduce into it will increase dramatically. Artificial plankton columns will become essential as we construct and inhabit the sea. While it may seem like a far-fetched idea, perhaps in the future, we will have household cleaners that imitate AC columns. Just as I clean up my mess, we could have a miniature vacuum cleaner that removes the carbon we produce.