CO2 removal by alkalinity enhancement: potential, benefits and risks
ACRONYM
RETAKE
Title
CO2 removal by alkalinity enhancement: potential, benefits and risks
General information
The research consortia RETAKE will assess the potential, feasibility and side effects of various forms of marine alkalinity enhancement (AE) as a means to reliably and sustainably remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Increased ocean alkalinity reduces the activity of CO2 in seawater, and prompts an enhanced flux of CO2 from the atmosphere into the ocean, thereby reducing the atmospheric CO2 concentrations. REATKE will examine a range of mineral alkalinity sources with respect to dissolution kinetics, CO2 sequestration potential and side effects on chemistry and biology.
Laboratory studies and mesocosm experiments of AE in benthic and pelagic systems will simulate realistic environments with focus on the Baltic and the North Sea. A hierarchy of numerical models will be used to simulate deployment in German coastal waters and elsewhere, and to extrapolate experimental results from local to regional and global scales. Permanence and accounting of carbon storage as well as monitoring, detection and attribution issues will be examined against the background natural variability. An investigation of economic aspects and the relation to the U.N. sustainability goals will complete the comprehensive assessment in order to inform policymakers about the feasibility, overall sequestration potential and environmental risks of ocean alkalinity enhancement.
RETAKE is one of the 6 research consortia of the Research Mission of the German Marine Research Alliance (DAM) »Marine Carbon Sinks in Decarbonization Pathways« (CDRmare).
Start
August, 2021
End
July, 2024
Funding (total)
-
Funding (GEOMAR)
2435000
Funding body / Programme
-
BMBF
/ DAM Forschungsmission / CDRmare
Coordination
Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel (GEOMAR), Germany
Contact
Partners
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Germany
Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, Germany
Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research (IOW), Germany
Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), Germany
Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT), Germany
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Germany
RWTH Aachen, Germany
University Bremen, Germany
University Hamburg, Germany
Kiel University (CAU), Germany
Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, Germany
Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research (IOW), Germany
Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), Germany
Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT), Germany
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Germany
RWTH Aachen, Germany
University Bremen, Germany
University Hamburg, Germany
Kiel University (CAU), Germany
