Lime in oceans ‘would reduce CO2 levels’

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our or .

| Sourced From |

Adding lime to the oceans could slow down or even reverse carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to a new project, known as Cquestrate, unveiled at a climate change conference.

About half of the CO2 released into the air by humans each year is absorbed by the oceans.

Although it helps slow the rate of global warming, it increases ocean acidity and poses a potential problem to marine life.

Under proposals from the Cquestrate project, they aim to reduce ocean acidity while increasingly absorbing CO2 by converting limestone into lime, thereby adding the lime to seawater.

The lime would react with CO2 dissolved in the water, converting it into bicarbonate ions, thus decreasing the acidity of the water, allowing the oceans to absorb more CO2 from the air and reduce global warming.

Cquestrate, proposed by Tim Kruger, a former management consultant, was one of 20 schemes proposed at the Manchester Report, a two-day event looking for the best ideas to tackle climate change at the Manchester International Festival. A panel of experts chaired by Lord Bingham, formerly Britain’s most senior judge, will select the 10 best ideas that will be featured in a report next week.

Mr Kruger told The Guardian: “It’s essential that we reduce our emissions, but that may not be enough. We need a plan B to actually reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. We need to research such concepts now – not just the science but also the legal, ethical and governance considerations.”

While the idea is good in theory, Mr Kruger added that in order for it to properly work, the world would need to mine and process abotu 10 cubic kilometres of limestone each year to soak up all the emissions the world produces. The CO2 resulting from the lime productino would also have to be captured and buried at source.

Chris Goodall, one of the experts assessing the proposals said the concept looked good but further research was needed to ascertain how feasible it was.