Ocean fertilization for geoengineering: A review of effectiveness, environmental impacts and emerging governance

Williamson, Phillip; Wallace, Douglas W.R.; Law, Cliff S.; Boyd, Philip W.; Collos, Yves; Croot, Peter; Denman, Kenneth L.; Riebesell, Ulf; Takeda, Shigenobu; Vivian, Chris

doi:10.1016/j.psep.2012.10.007

Cited by 124 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 120 publications

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“…Since the link was first made between natural changes in the input of dust to the ocean, ocean productivity and climatic conditions, there has been a dramatic scaling-down of expectations of how effective ocean fertilization might be as a way to avoid human-driven global warming 11 .…”

Section: Other Optionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emissions reduction: Scrutinize CO2 removal methods

Williamson

2016

Nature

254

136

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Section: Other Optionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emissions reduction: Scrutinize CO2 removal methods

Williamson

2016

Nature

254

136

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“…These OIF experiment side-effects may themselves effect climate and ecosystem changes that have unexpected negative outcomes (Fuhrman and Capone, 1991). Therefore, it is 5 not surprising that the OIF validation and usefulness has been a subject of debate (Williamson et al, 2012).…”

Section: Environmental Side Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…CH 4 has been considered to be relatively low risk as most of the CH 4 formed in the ocean is used as energy source for microorganisms and is converted to CO 2 before reaching to the sea surface (Smetacek and 10 Naqvi, 2008;Williamson et al, 2012). On the other hand, the ocean is already a significant source for atmospheric N 2 O, so any enhancement of biological production that might enhance N 2 O emission could work to increase atmospheric greenhouse gas levels rather than decrease them (Bange, 2006).…”

Section: Environmental Side Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Decomposition of iron addition-enhanced biomass may cause decrease oxygen concentrations in the subsurface waters (Williamson et al, 2012). Box model solutions have further suggested that anoxic conditions may develop after OIF (Sarmiento and Orr, 1991).…”

Section: Environmental Side Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the artificial OIF experiments showed unexpectedly weak responses compared to natural production in all the experiments (de Baar et al, 2005;Boyd et al, 2007), except one; the Southern Ocean European Iron Fertilization Experiment, EIFEX (Smetacek et al, 2012). These results, which include side effects such as N 2 O production and hypoxia development (Fuhrman and Capone, 1991), have been scientifically 5 debated amongst those who support and oppose OIF experimentation (Chisholm et al, 2001;Johnson and Karl, 2002;Lawrence, 2002;Buesseler and Boyd, 2003;Williamson et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Ocean Iron Fertilization Experiments: Past–Present–Future with Introduction to Korean Iron Fertilization Experiment in the Southern Ocean (KIFES) Project

Yoon

Yoo

Macdonald³

et al. 2016

Preprint

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Abstract. Since the start of the industrial revolution, human activities have caused a rapid increase in atmospheric CO 2 concentrations, which have in turn been cited as the cause of a variety climate changes such as global warming and ocean acidification. Various approaches have been proposed to reduce atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. The 'Martin (or Iron) Hypothesis' suggests that ocean iron fertilization (OIF) should be an efficient method for stimulating the biological pump in iron-limited high nutrient-low chlorophyll regions. To test the Martin hypothesis, a total 13 OIF experiments have been 20 performed since 1990 in the Southern Ocean (7 times), in the subarctic Pacific (3 times), in the equatorial Pacific (twice), and in the subtropical Atlantic (once). These OIF field experiments demonstrated that primary production could be significantly increased after artificial iron addition. However, export production efficiency revealed by the OIF experiments was unexpectedly low compared to production from natural processes in all, except one of the experiments (i.e., the Southern Ocean European Iron Fertilization Experiment, EIFEX). These results, including side effects such as N 2 O production and 25 hypoxia development, have been scientifically debated amongst those who support and oppose OIF experimentation. In the context of increasing global and political concerns associated with climate change, it is valuable to examine the validity and usefulness of the OIF. We provide a general overview of the OIF experiments conducted over the last 25 years (past), a discussion of OIF considerations including possible side effects (present), and an introduction to the OIF experiment plan currently being designed by Korean oceanographers (future). 30

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Assessing ocean alkalinity for carbon sequestration

Renforth

Henderson

2017

Reviews of Geophysics

289

263

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Over the coming century humanity may need to find reservoirs to store several trillions of tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted from fossil fuel combustion, which would otherwise cause dangerous climate change if it were left in the atmosphere. Carbon storage in the ocean as bicarbonate ions (by increasing ocean alkalinity) has received very little attention. Yet recent work suggests sufficient capacity to sequester copious quantities of CO2. It may be possible to sequester hundreds of billions to trillions of tons of C without surpassing postindustrial average carbonate saturation states in the surface ocean. When globally distributed, the impact of elevated alkalinity is potentially small and may help ameliorate the effects of ocean acidification. However, the local impact around addition sites may be more acute but is specific to the mineral and technology. The alkalinity of the ocean increases naturally because of rock weathering in which >1.5 mol of carbon are removed from the atmosphere for every mole of magnesium or calcium dissolved from silicate minerals (e.g., wollastonite, olivine, and anorthite) and 0.5 mol for carbonate minerals (e.g., calcite and dolomite). These processes are responsible for naturally sequestering 0.5 billion tons of CO2 per year. Alkalinity is reduced in the ocean through carbonate mineral precipitation, which is almost exclusively formed from biological activity. Most of the previous work on the biological response to changes in carbonate chemistry have focused on acidifying conditions. More research is required to understand carbonate precipitation at elevated alkalinity to constrain the longevity of carbon storage. A range of technologies have been proposed to increase ocean alkalinity (accelerated weathering of limestone, enhanced weathering, electrochemical promoted weathering, and ocean liming), the cost of which may be comparable to alternative carbon sequestration proposals (e.g., $20–100 tCO2−1). There are still many unanswered technical, environmental, social, and ethical questions, but the scale of the carbon sequestration challenge warrants research to address these.

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Ocean fertilization for geoengineering: A review of effectiveness, environmental impacts and emerging governance

Cited by 124 publications

References 120 publications

Emissions reduction: Scrutinize CO2 removal methods

Emissions reduction: Scrutinize CO2 removal methods

Ocean Iron Fertilization Experiments: Past–Present–Future with Introduction to Korean Iron Fertilization Experiment in the Southern Ocean (KIFES) Project

Assessing ocean alkalinity for carbon sequestration

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