Weymouth, UK: SeaCURE, a groundbreaking pilot project to capture carbon from seawater, has begun operating on England’s south coast.
Funded by the UK government, the initiative is part of broader efforts to explore innovative technologies to combat climate change.
While reducing greenhouse gas emissions is the priority for scientists, many agree that capturing some of the gases already released is crucial.
SeaCURE aims to test the efficiency of removing carbon from seawater, where concentrations are much higher than in the atmosphere.
How this works?
Located in Weymouth, the facility pulls seawater into the project through a pipe that extends under the beach into the Atlantic.
The water is treated to become more acidic, which helps carbon dissolve into the air as CO2, similar to the fizz in a carbonated drink.
The CO2 is captured, concentrated using charred coconut husks, and stored, while the low-carbon seawater is neutralized and pumped back into the ocean.
Despite more developed carbon capture technologies that remove CO2 directly from the air, SeaCURE stands out because of the higher carbon concentration in seawater, which is about 150 times more than in the atmosphere.
However, the process faces challenges, particularly regarding the significant energy requirements.
At present, the pilot project removes a modest 100 metric tonnes of CO2 annually, about the same as 100 transatlantic flights.
However, SeaCURE’s potential to scale up could remove up to 14 billion tonnes of CO2 annually if just 1 percent of the world’s surface seawater were processed. For this to be feasible, renewable energy, such as solar power from floating installations, would be necessary to run the operations.
The SeaCURE project is one of 15 UK government-backed initiatives designed to develop and scale carbon capture technologies.
The government has allocated £3 million in funding for this project, which is seen as vital in the broader effort to achieve net-zero emissions and curb global warming.
Energy minister Kerry McCarthy emphasized that removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere is essential in helping us achieve net zero.
Mc Carthy added that, “Innovative projects like SeaCURE at the University of Exeter play an important role in creating the green technologies needed to make this happen, while supporting skilled jobs and boosting growth.”
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