ChatGPT generated panoramic image of a limestone quarry with a biomass-burning kiln beside the ocean in Italy

Ocean Carbon Capture With An Italian Biomass Angle

Finding ways to put CO2 into the ocean or take it out are all flawed in different ways

Regular readers might think Californians have a lock on poorly thought-through ideas for ‘enhancing’ oceanic carbon uptake, but apparently Italy decided to throw a log on this fire. A startup is promoting the idea of digging up long-sequestered carbon dioxide in the form of limestone to make quicklime to make bicarbonates to pour into the ocean. There’s a bit to unpack there.

Let’s start with the basics. Heating limestone at 900° Celsius to make quicklime is a fundamental process in the manufacturing of cement. It’s a major climate change problem as the process produces about 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions. This is a very well understood chemical and industrial process that innumerable people are working to find a way around that doesn’t involve going back to living in mud huts.

Cement displacement and decarbonization through 2100 by Michael Barnard, Chief Strategist, TFIE Strategy Inc.

Thankfully, there is a solid set of solutions for the problem that is going to address most of it, and most of the solutions are already well underway globally. This chart is from my projection from earlier this year…