Assessing ocean alkalinity for carbon sequestration

Abstract Over the coming century humanity may need to find reservoirs to store several trillions of tons of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emitted from fossil fuel combustion, which would otherwise cause dangerous climate change if it were left in the atmosphere. Carbon storage in the ocean as bicarbonate ions (by increasing ocean alkalinity) has received very little attention. Yet recent work suggests sufficient capacity to sequester copious quantities of CO 2 . It may be possible to sequester hundreds of billions to trillions of tons of C without surpassing postindustrial average carbonate saturation states in the surface ocean. When globally distributed, the impact of elevated alkalinity is potentially small and…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy
• CI
  Carnegie Institution of Washington
• UO
  University of Oxford
• CU
  Cardiff University