More research urged before scaling ocean carbon capture as UK trial abandoned

Scientists from the University of Exeter and Plymouth Marine Laboratory in the UK are urging caution over large-scale deployment of ocean carbon removal technologies, noting that major gaps remain in understanding their ecological impacts.

This warning follows a comprehensive review under the SeaCURE project – one of the first full-scale assessments of direct ocean carbon capture and storage (DOCCS) systems.

SeaCURE’s electrochemical process removes dissolved inorganic carbon from seawater, raising the pH before returning the treated water to the ocean, which allows it to absorb more atmospheric carbon dioxide.