The cost of carbon management using ocean nourishment
Abstract
Purpose- A current estimate of the cost of reducing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by Ocean Nourishment is provided. A scenario of fertilisation of the ocean in regions of excess phosphorous, carried out using a ship to distribute ammonium hydroxide, is examined.Design/methodology/approach- Ocean fertilisation could be deployed to draw down the carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere and store it for millennia in the deep ocean.Findings- The costs of fertilising the ocean with macronutrient depends mostly on the cost of producing the nutrient and the cost of its delivery. Macronutrient fertilisation has been calculated, for a particular scenario, to cost US$20 per tonne of carbon dioxide emission avoided for 100 years.Research limitations/implications- There is a collateral benefit of increased fish stocks, which is not considered here. The ocean, plausibly, has the capacity to sequester more than one Gigatonne per year of carbon (∼3.7 Gt CO2/yr) via macronutrient fertilisation.Practical implications- This modest cost of reducing climate change justifies further research and development of ocean macronutrient fertilisation.Social implications- The modest cost allows climate change to be addressed without serious economic disruption.Originality/value- The study reported is a contribution to mitigation of climate change.
- Publication:
-
International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management
- Pub Date:
- November 2014
- DOI:
- 10.1108/IJCCSM-11-2012-0063
- Bibcode:
- 2014IJCCS...6..391S