Articles | Volume 21, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-261-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-261-2024
Research article
 | Highlight paper
 | 
16 Jan 2024
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 16 Jan 2024

The additionality problem of ocean alkalinity enhancement

Lennart Thomas Bach

Related authors

Investigating the effect of silicate- and calcium-based ocean alkalinity enhancement on diatom silicification
Aaron Ferderer, Kai G. Schulz, Ulf Riebesell, Kirralee G. Baker, Zanna Chase, and Lennart T. Bach
Biogeosciences, 21, 2777–2794, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2777-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2777-2024, 2024
Short summary
Influence of ocean alkalinity enhancement with olivine or steel slag on a coastal plankton community in Tasmania
Jiaying A. Guo, Robert F. Strzepek, Kerrie M. Swadling, Ashley T. Townsend, and Lennart T. Bach
Biogeosciences, 21, 2335–2354, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2335-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2335-2024, 2024
Short summary
Effects of grain size and seawater salinity on magnesium hydroxide dissolution and secondary calcium carbonate precipitation kinetics: implications for ocean alkalinity enhancement
Charly Andre Moras, Tyler Cyronak, Lennart Thomas Bach, Renaud Joannes-Boyau, and Kai Georg Schulz
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-645,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-645, 2024
Short summary
Technical note: Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement Pelagic Impact Intercomparison Project (OAEPIIP)
Lennart Thomas Bach, Aaron James Ferderer, Julie LaRoche, and Kai Georg Schulz
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-692,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-692, 2024
Short summary
Lipid remodeling in phytoplankton exposed to multi-environmental drivers in a mesocosm experiment
Sebastian I. Cantarero, Edgart Flores, Harry Allbrook, Paulina Aguayo, Cristian A. Vargas, John E. Tamanaha, J. Bentley C. Scholz, Lennart T. Bach, Carolin R. Löscher, Ulf Riebesell, Balaji Rajagopalan, Nadia Dildar, and Julio Sepúlveda
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-3110,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-3110, 2024
Short summary

Related subject area

Biogeochemistry: Coastal Ocean
Distribution of nutrients and dissolved organic matter in a eutrophic equatorial estuary: the Johor River and the East Johor Strait
Amanda Y. L. Cheong, Kogila Vani Annammala, Ee Ling Yong, Yongli Zhou, Robert S. Nichols, and Patrick Martin
Biogeosciences, 21, 2955–2971, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2955-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2955-2024, 2024
Short summary
Investigating the effect of silicate- and calcium-based ocean alkalinity enhancement on diatom silicification
Aaron Ferderer, Kai G. Schulz, Ulf Riebesell, Kirralee G. Baker, Zanna Chase, and Lennart T. Bach
Biogeosciences, 21, 2777–2794, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2777-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2777-2024, 2024
Short summary
Ocean alkalinity enhancement using sodium carbonate salts does not lead to measurable changes in Fe dynamics in a mesocosm experiment
David González-Santana, María Segovia, Melchor González-Dávila, Librada Ramírez, Aridane G. González, Leonardo J. Pozzo-Pirotta, Veronica Arnone, Victor Vázquez, Ulf Riebesell, and J. Magdalena Santana-Casiano
Biogeosciences, 21, 2705–2715, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2705-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2705-2024, 2024
Short summary
Quantification and mitigation of bottom-trawling impacts on sedimentary organic carbon stocks in the North Sea
Lucas Porz, Wenyan Zhang, Nils Christiansen, Jan Kossack, Ute Daewel, and Corinna Schrum
Biogeosciences, 21, 2547–2570, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2547-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2547-2024, 2024
Short summary
Influence of ocean alkalinity enhancement with olivine or steel slag on a coastal plankton community in Tasmania
Jiaying A. Guo, Robert F. Strzepek, Kerrie M. Swadling, Ashley T. Townsend, and Lennart T. Bach
Biogeosciences, 21, 2335–2354, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2335-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2335-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Adkins, J. F., Naviaux, J. D., Subhas, A. V, Dong, S., and Berelson, W. M.: The Dissolution Rate of CaCO_3 in the Ocean, Annu. Rev. Mar. Sci., 13, 57–80, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-041720, 2020. 
Aller, R. C.: Carbonate Dissolution in Nearshore Terrigenous Muds: The Role of Physical and Biological Reworking, J. Geol., 90, 79–95, https://doi.org/10.1086/628652, 1982. 
Archer, D., Kheshgi, H., and Maier-Reimer, E.: Dynamics of fossil fuel CO2 neutralization by marine CaCO_3, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 12, 259–276, https://doi.org/10.1029/98GB00744, 1998. 
Bach, L. T.: The additionality problem of Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement: Underlying experimental and observational data, Zenodo [data set], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8191516, 2023. 
Download
Co-editor-in-chief
Reaching the Paris Agreement targets to limit global warming to 1.5 or 2°C implies not only reducing emissions, but also active carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere. While land-based carbon dioxide removal or negative emission technologies have received most attention, ocean solutions are increasingly being considered. Ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE), or alkalinization, is one promising ocean-based carbon dioxide technology. However, any new carbon dioxide removal technique needs thorough investigations for its effectiveness, longevity, benefits and lack of disbenefits, financial viability, social acceptance and governability. The paper by Bach is a nice illustration of the type of research that must be done if we are to consider large scale application of OAE. It focuses on the additionality problem of ocean alkalinity enhancement, specifically it investigates how the addition of alkalinity modifies the natural alkalinity cycle and in that way the efficiency of carbon dioxide sequestration.
Short summary
Ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) is a widely considered marine carbon dioxide removal method. OAE aims to accelerate chemical rock weathering, which is a natural process that slowly sequesters atmospheric carbon dioxide. This study shows that the addition of anthropogenic alkalinity via OAE can reduce the natural release of alkalinity and, therefore, reduce the efficiency of OAE for climate mitigation. However, the additionality problem could be mitigated via a variety of activities.
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint