PLEA Network

6 September 2023, Reuters: Singapore to expand ocean CO2 removal project as scientists call for more research.  Singapore is planning to expand a pilot project that boosts the ocean’s capacity to absorb carbon dioxide emissions, using one of several emerging technologies that supporters hope can play a decisive role in the global battle against climate change. As scientists call for more research into ocean carbon dioxide removal (OCDR), PUB, Singapore’s national water agency, has built a plant that uses electricity to extract CO2 from seawater, allowing it to absorb more greenhouse gas from the atmosphere when it is pumped back out into the ocean. The project, built at a desalination facility on Singapore’s western coast, extracts 100 kilograms of CO2 a day using technology designed by U.S. firm Equatic, founded by scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). At the plant, seawater is run through an electrolyser, which converts dissolved CO2 into calcium carbonate and produces hydrogen. PUB is aiming to secure funds by the end of the year to build a demonstration plant with a daily capacity of 10 tons, and will look at expanding further, said Gurdev Singh, a PUB general manager who leads the project. “We have shown that the technology works, but the key now is to optimise the technology at scale,” he said. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said the removal of CO2 in the atmosphere will be as important as cutting emissions when it comes to curbing temperature rises. But while OCDR has been described by one environmental group as an “unsung hero” in the fight against global warming, it remains unclear whether the new technologies are feasible when deployed at scale. Read more here