A controversial ocean carbon capture experiment in St Ives Bay, Cornwall, in the UK has been cancelled by the company involved as commercially unviable.
Planetary Technologies, a Canadian firm, had aimed to add diluted magnesium hydroxide (an antacid compound) into the bay via a wastewater outfall to neutralise ocean acidity and enhance carbon dioxide absorption from the atmosphere.
The approach, known as ocean alkalinity enhancement, was tested in a 2022 trial, showing potential to safely reduce CO2 levels in seawater.
An independent audit by the UK’s Environment Agency later found the method posed a very low risk to marine life at the trial scale.
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