Publication Date:
2016-02-10
Description:
Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) approaches are efforts to reduce the atmospheric CO 2 concentration. Here we use a marine carbon cycle model to investigate the effects of one CDR technique: the open ocean dissolution of the iron-containing mineral olivine. We analyse the maximum CDR potential of an annual dissolution of 3 Pg olivine during the 21st century and focus on the role of the micro-nutrient iron for the biological carbon pump. Distributing the products of olivine dissolution (bicarbonate, silicic acid, iron) uniformly in the global surface ocean has a maximum CDR potential of 0.57 gC/g-olivine mainly due to the alkalinisation of the ocean, with a significant contribution from the fertilisation of phytoplankton with silicic acid and iron. The part of the CDR caused by ocean fertilisation is not permanent, while the CO 2 sequestered by alkalinisation would be stored in the ocean as long as alkalinity is not removed from the system. For high CO 2 ...
Print ISSN:
1748-9318
Electronic ISSN:
1748-9326
Topics:
Biology
,
Energy, Environment Protection, Nuclear Power Engineering
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