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Carbon Dioxide Removal


Ocean Iron Fertilization

Ocean Iron Fertilization is the process of adding iron filings to seawater to stimulate the growth of phytoplankton that absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide. Ocean fertilization seeks to take advantage of the ocean's natural carbon pump, which uses carbon dioxide at the sea surface and incorporates the carbon, via photosynthesis, into biological tissues which can fall or be transported to the deep ocean. Certain areas of the ocean, including the Southern Ocean, have plentiful nutrients but lack iron, a key trace micronutrient that sea plants known as phytoplankton need to grow. So fertilization with iron has been proposed as a means of accelerating the carbon pump and increasing the size of the ocean carbon sink.
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Geoengineering at the “Edge of the World”: Exploring perceptions of ocean fertilisation through the Haida Salmon Restoration Corporation

2018
Scholarly Work
Kate Elizabeth Gannon, Mike Hulme
This paper uses the Haida Salmon Restoration Corporation's 2012 ocean fertilization experiment to report a novel situated study of public perceptions of geoengineering and present a broad geoengineering governance strategy.

Negative emissions—Part 1: Research landscape and synthesis

2018
Scholarly Work
Jan C Minx, William F Lamb, Max W Callaghan, Sabine Fuss, Jérôme Hilaire, Felix Creutzig, Thorben Amann, Tim Beringer, Wagner de Oliveira Garcia, Jens Hartmann, Tarun Khanna, Dominic Lenzi, Gunnar Luderer, Gregory F Nemet, Joeri Rogelj, Pete Smith, Jose Luis Vicente Vicente, Jennifer Wilcox, Maria del Mar Zamora Dominguez
This paper, part 1 of a 3 part series on NETs, clarifies the role of NETs in climate change mitigation scenarios, their ethical implications, as well as the challenges involved in bringing the various NETs to the market and scaling them up in time.

Negative emissions—Part 2: Costs, potentials and side effects

2018
Scholarly Work
Sabine Fuss, William F Lamb, Max W Callaghan, Jérôme Hilaire, Felix Creutzig, Thorben Amann, Tim Beringer, Wagner de Oliveira Garcia, Jens Hartmann, Tarun Khanna, Gunnar Luderer, Gregory F Nemet, Joeri Rogelj, Pete Smith, José Luis Vicente Vicente, Jennifer Wilcox, Maria del Mar Zamora Dominguez, Jan C Minx
This paper, part 2 of a 3 part series on negative emissions, presents estimates of costs, potentials, and side-effects for negative emission technologies.

Negative emissions—Part 3: Innovation and upscaling

2018
Scholarly Work
Gregory F Nemet, Max W Callaghan, Felix Creutzig, Sabine Fuss, Jens Hartmann, Jérôme Hilaire, William F Lamb, Jan C Minx, Sophia Rogers, Pete Smith
This paper finds that if NETs are to be deployed at the levels required to meet 1.5 °C and 2 °C targets, then important post-R&D issues will need to be addressed, including incentives for early deployment, niche markets, scale-up, and demand.

Ocean Solutions to Address Climate Change and Its Effects on Marine Ecosystems

2018
Scholarly Work
A.K. Magnan, R. Billé, L. Bopp, V.I. Chalastani, W.W.L. Cheung, C.M. Duarte, R.D. Gates, J. Hinkel, J.-O. Irisson, E. Mcleod, F. Micheli, J.J. Middelburg, A. Oschlies, H.-O. Pörtner, G.H. Rau, P. Williamson, J.-P. Gattuso
This paper provides a comprehensive and systematic assessment of 13 ocean-based climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, including ocean fertilization, alkalization, and hybrid land/ocean methods such as marine BECCS and biochar.

Consensus, Certainty, and Catastrophe: Discourse, Governance, and Ocean Iron Fertilization

2017
Scholarly Work
Kemi Fuentes-George
This article explains how a subjective understanding of certainty influenced global ocean governance as related to ocean iron fertilization.

Geoengineering: A Promising Weapon or an Unregulated Disaster in the Fight Against Climate Change?

2017
Scholarly Work
J. Brent Marshall
This note outlines the regulation of geoengineering, the current laws in place, the policy needs of geoengineering regulation, and how to bridge the gap between these concepts.

H. 6011 – The Geoengineering Act of 2017

2017
Proposed Legislation
State of Rhode Island
This bill would provide that a person seeking to engage in geoengineering activities would require a license from the director of the Department of Environmental Management.

H. 6011 Substitute A – House Resolution on Geoengineering Study

2017
Proposed Legislation
State of Rhode Island
This bill creates a 5 Member Commission to study and provide recommendations to the state on the regulation and licensure of geoengineering, which includes ocean iron fertilization.

Geoengineering the oceans: an emerging frontier in international climate change governance

2017
Scholarly Work
Jeffrey McGee, Kerryn Brent, Wil Burns
This article draws on discussions from the 2016 Marine Geoengineering Symposium to highlight prominent marine geoengineering proposals and raise questions about the readiness of the international law system to govern its research and implementation.

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