Abstract

At 420 ppm CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, reducing emissions is not sufficient and so CO2 sequestration from the atmosphere is necessary. To meet the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement, scaling up Carbon Dioxide Removal has been deemed as an “urgent priority” towards rapidly reducing emissions (Smith et al 2023). Marine-based Carbon Dioxide Removal (mCDR) aims to use the ocean’s capacity for sequestering carbon to offset atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Ocean Storage of Biomass (OSB) by sinking carbon rich biomass to the deep ocean is one viable mCDR pathway. Siegel et al 2021 found that deeper than 1800m, carbon remains sequestered for 900 years. Additionally, OSB can help countries reach their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and gain revenue when voluntary carbon markets pay for carbon sequestration.

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