Plan Sea: Ocean Interventions to Address Climate Change

Our guests today, Lennart Bach, at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, and Veronica Tamsitt, Head of Oceanography at the mCDR MRV company, Submarine, are two of the authors of a very interesting research article recently published in the journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles, titled “Identifying the Most (Cost-)Efficient Regions for CO2 Removal With Iron Fertilization in the Southern Ocean.” Ocean Iron Fertilization (OIF) is really the “OG” of marine-based CDR approaches, with the Ocean Iron Hypothesis being advanced by oceanographer John Martin in the 1980s, and 13 field experiments ensuing over the course of two decades, beginning in 1993, with the last experiment conducted in 2009. It’s fair to say that interest in OIF largely fell into abeyance for a protracted period of time. However, recently, largely due to the efforts of researchers at Woods Hole, including Ken Buesseler, who we interviewed on a previous episode, as well as a spate of recent high-profile publications, OIF seems to be front and center again in the discussion of mCDR methods. In this episode we discuss some of the most pertinent issues to assessing the potential role of OIF in a marine CDR portfolio, including costs, risks, and legal considerations. We hope this interview can do justice to some of the article’s most important conclusions.

Our guest today is Freya Chay, Carbon Removal Program Lead at CarbonPlan, a non-profit organization in the US working on data and science for climate action by improving the transparency and scientific integrity of climate solutions with open data and tools. Carbon Plan and Freya have produced a number of stellar publications and tools, widely regarded in the field and insightfully crafted. Notably, the CDR primer is a bibliography of crucial concepts to understand if one wants to enter the world of CDR. Similarly, the CDR Verification Framework is an insightful and informative tool to explore detailed layers of CDR approaches. In this episode, we discuss Freya's perspective on barriers to scaling, market responsibilities and market-shaping opportunities. We also discuss uncertainty and opportunities in Monitoring, Reporting and Verification.

Welcome back to the Plan Sea Podcast as we kick off our final stretch of season 1. Today's episode focuses on the findings and observations in a recently published paper in the Journal of Environmental Science and Policy entitled Towards just, responsible, and socially viable carbon removal: lessons from offshore DACCS research for early-stage carbon removal projects We welcome the paper's coauthors Sara Nawaz, Director of Research at the Institute of Carbon Removal, Law and Policy, and Terre Satterfield, Professor of Culture, Risk and Environment at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia to the episode.

Dr. Matt Eisaman and Frances Simpson-Allen join Plan Sea to discuss Ebb Carbon's marine carbon dioxide removal approach and their latest developments. Matt is a cofounder and Chief Scientist as well as Associate Professor at Yale University in the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences and the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture (YCNCC). Frances is their Director for Policy and Market Development. We discuss the necessity of field trials, challenges on their path to scaleup, as well as very importantly the relevance and importance of social engagement strategies. Particularly, we converse about Ebb's most recent public-private partnerships and plans for the upcoming year. As always, we also dive into the world of regulation and policy and how that interacts with Ebb's approach and operation.

Today’s guest is David Koweek, who holds a PhD from Stanford University in Earth System Science and is currently the Chief Scientist of Ocean Visions, a non-profit organization comprised of a network of leading universities and oceanographic research institutions and partners. Ocean Visions works to engage and focus resources from across this network for concerted action, catalyzing collaboration for the co-design, development, testing, and evaluation of solutions to the interlocking ocean-climate crisis. David tells us about Ocean Vision's general work and thematic pillars. In particular, we discuss the importance of field trials in order for scaleup of mCDR approaches, as well as what is currently hindering scaling generally. As we navigate these different thematic focus points, David presents Ocean Vision's amazing resources such as the Launchpad Program, CDR Roadmaps, and their curate CDR Community. Finally, David also sheds light on the important work they are doing on an international stage at the United Nations. We hope you enjoy this episode! Launchpad Program: https://oceanvisions.org/launchpad/ CDR Roadmaps: https://www2.oceanvisions.org/roadmaps/ CDR Community: https://community.oceanvisions.org/

Dr. Ken Buesseler, senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, joins us to discuss new perspectives and opportunities of ocean iron fertilization (OIF) as a carbon removal solution. Ken explores with us how the journey of OIF has evolved as one of the first researched carbon removal solutions from about a decade ago to today. We discuss what OIF is, what the new effort ExOIS, Exploring Ocean Iron Solutions, entails and why it is important for the development of OIF. We discuss the history of OIF as well as how new technology development could help answer some of those early risks, including progress on the front of monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of both carbon and environmental parameters. Learn more about ExOIS: https://oceaniron.org/

Today's episode features three representatives of the SEAO2-CDR project, a European effort to determine strategies for the evaluation and assessment of ocean based carbon dioxide removal. The project's aims range from a strongly interdisciplinary background and focus not only on scientific, but also economic, legal, political, social and ethical aspects. We are joined by The project is funded through the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101081362.

This episode's guests are Jean-Pierre Gattuso, CNRS research professor at Sorbonne University and Institute on Sustainable Development and International Relations, France, and Chair for Ocean Acidification and other ocean changes – Impacts and Solutions at Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation; and Andreas Oschlies, professor and head of the biogeochemical modeling research unit at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany. Together they have led a crossdisciplinary, international research effort to produce a Best Practice Guide for Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement. The currently published pre-print of the guide consists of 13 chapters, written by 50+ scientific co-authors and covering all the relevant approaches available for ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) as a Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) approach. The chapters’ topics range from covering current knowledge of the individual approaches and scientific uncertainties as well as recommendations for responsible research and innovation, public engagement, data reporting and sharing, and monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV). Read each individual chapter and provide comments on the OAE Best Practice Guide website.

Rose Sharifian, CTO of the Dutch startup SeaO2, joins Plan Sea to talk about their electrochemical ocean carbon capture approach. Rose, Anna and Wil discuss SeaO2's technical roadmap, electrochemical membrane technology as well as challenges and opportunities they are facing in the European CDR market. Rose also shares how SeaO2 fits into the global picture of marine CDR startups and why she believes they are amongst the furthest in their development. Learn more about SeaO2 on https://www.seao2.nl/.

Mike Kelland, CEO and co-founder of Planetary Technologies, an ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) startup from Canada, joins Plan Sea on this new episode. Mike, Anna and Wil discuss the basics, science and challenges surrounding ocean alkalinity enhancement — a method whereby the capacity of ocean water to draw down additional CO2 from the atmosphere is increased by increasing the alkalinity of this water. The better part of this episode focuses on the most recent challenges of Planetary around their community engagement and their first planned pilot site in Cornwall, UK. Mike shares learnings, insights and future outlook on the research needed for OAE to reduce uncertainties. Some more resources to learn about OAE and Planetary: Planetary website Details about the Cornwall pilot Carbon Removal Newsroom with Will Burt, Head of Ocean Science and Pete Chargin, VP of Commercialization and Community Relations The Ocean Embassy at the Ocean Visions summit, featuring Will Burt on Monitoring, Reporting and Verification The Ocean Embassy with Dr. Lennart Bach: What is Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement?

Our guest, Lisa Levin, is a distinguished professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the lead author of a recent article in the journal Science called "Deep Sea Impacts of Climate Interventions." She explains that most ocean-based carbon removal technologies involve dumping materials and carbon into the ocean floor, which could affect the many different ecosystems of the deep sea. The deep sea is vast and full of biodiversity, which plays a critical role in regulating the planet's climate and maintaining its health. Lisa identifies the risks associated with ocean-based climate interventions, such as changing the light regime and adding particles or nutrients to the ocean, which could have negative consequences for deep-sea ecosystems.

Matthew Long joins Wil Burns and Anna Madlener to discuss his role at the National Center for Atmospheric Research: Climate and Global Dynamics and the Cworthy project, a non-profit research organization to develop the scientific and technical tools associated with quantifying ocean carbon dioxide removal and leveraging those tools to bolster the monitoring, reporting, and verification of carbon dioxide removal. Matthew discusses the research that he conducts and the successes and challenges that the research has identified.

Philip Boyd joins Wil Burns and Anna Madlener in this episode of the podcast to discuss a recent publication, "Operational Monitoring of Open-Ocean Carbon Dioxide Removal Deployments: Detection, Attribution, and Determination of Side Effects". Phil discusses the technological and scientific focus areas necessary to enable operational monitoring as highlighted in the paper by him and his co-authors. This includes tools to be used, field implementation, reporting and verification and three guiding principles they have identified to enable operational monitoring. Philip Boyd is a professor of Marine Biogeochemistry at the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania.

Dr. Jessica Cross joins Anna Madlener and Wil Burns on the podcast to discuss the driving and scientifically informed academic, entrepreneurial, and legislative pathways for ocean-based carbon removal approaches. Jessica is a research oceanographer at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) where she leads the Carbon Dioxide Removal Task Force and manages the Carbon System Observing Research and Development for the Alaska and Pacific Arctic regions. Jessica, Anna, and Wil have a great discussion on the successes and challenges they are currently facing in the carbon removal field and three things she would like to see the industry focus on over the next year.

Dr. Franziska Elmer and John Auckland join Wil Burns and new cohost Anna Madlener on the podcast to discuss the startup Seafields Solutions. Seafields uses compressed sargassum bales to function as natural “carbon batteries.” The bales are sunk into the abyssal plain of the ocean, which will local away the CO2 for millennia. Franziska and John tell you about their company and their process where they discuss how their company will work towards getting permitting, third-party impact assessments, and navigating the rules of regulation in order to accomplish their goals. Seafileds Website: https://www.seafields.eco/

Host Wil Burns and producer, Andrew Lewin, welcome Mowgli Homes to the podcast to discuss the measuring, reporting, and verification (MRV) of carbon sequestration in the future. Mowgli is the CEO of Submarine, which is hoping to help the industry navigate the shoals of MRV in a cost-effective and high-integrity fashion. Mowgli discusses where the industry is going and how it will address some of the challenges in the future.

Arin Crumley and Christian Robinson join Wil Burns and guest host (and producer), Andrew Lewin on the podcast to discuss their business called Pull to Refresh. The idea was borne out of a number of interactions on Clubhouse to help people and businesses reverse the effects of climate change. Hear more from Arin and Christian on how the business was started and the company's approach to seaweed sequestration. Pull to Refresh Website: https://pulltorefresh.earth/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/refreshingearth/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/refreshingearth Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/refreshingearth LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pulltorefresh/

Wil Burns speaks to Romany Webb, an Associate Research Scholar at Columbia Law School and Deputy Director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, about local legislation around coastal and ocean carbon removal. Romany recently authored a paper entitled "Permitting seaweed cultivation for carbon sequestration in California: barriers and recommendations" and is on the podcast to discuss her experience with state and local legislation on the matter. Romany Webb: https://climate.law.columbia.edu/directory/romany-m-webb

Our inaugural episode is a critical one and one in which host Wil Burns explores often throughout this podcast how we qualify, verify, and report claims of carbon sequestration from ocean-based approaches. Wil is joined by two experts in the field, Steve Crooks, who is the co-founder at the consultancy Sylvestrum Climate Associates as well as a research associate with the Smithsonian Institution, and Elizabeth Guinessey, who is the manager of the Food and Blue Carbon Innovation node at Verra, which is a non-profit organization that among other roles, serves as a secretariat for the development and management of carbon market protocols. The conversation centers around the new Seascape Initiative and its potential role in carbon dioxide removal. Steve Crooks: https://www.silvestrum.com/the-team Elizabeth Guinessey: https://verra.org/staff/liz-guinessey/