SBIR Phase I: Enhanced Blue Carbon: a novel carbon dioxide removal strategy for climate change mitigation

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛/商业影响是应对气候变化，增强沿海恢复力，对抗海洋酸化。该项目将开发一种基于自然的方法，在恢复沼泽生态系统的同时，将橄榄砂安全地部署到含盐沼泽中，以去除大气中的二氧化碳（CDR）。该项目将通过推动地球科学、海洋科学、海洋和海岸工程领域的创新和新方法，贡献社会价值。它将产生一种严格的、具有成本效益的二氧化碳去除方法，以产生碳信用额度，这些信用额度可以在碳交易所购买，以实现净零排放。一旦达到规模，这项技术每年可以以每吨100美元的价格永久捕获数百万吨的碳。通过创造绿色就业机会和缓解气候危机，这对美国公民的生活可能产生重大影响。该项目将开发增强型蓝碳（EBC），这是一种新型的、基于自然的二氧化碳去除（CDR）技术，它结合并改进了两种最具成本效益、可扩展和永久性的CDR技术：海洋碱度增强（OAE）和蓝碳（BC）。拟议的研究包括实地试验，将产生碳量化模型，生态影响报告和生命周期分析（LCA），以确定EBC的效率和安全性。这是此类试验中的第一个，是开发第三方认可的测量-报告-验证（MRV）方法的关键一步，该方法将EBC与碳市场直接联系起来。EBC的有效性和安全性将通过实地试验中收集的孔隙水、沉积物和生物质的地球化学和生物地球化学特征来评估。这些数据将集成到专有的一维反应传输模型中，该模型可用于估计EBC项目中的碳去除潜力。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to combat climate change, enhance coastal resilience, and counter ocean acidification. This project will develop a nature-based approach that deploys Olivine sand safely into salty marshes for atmospheric carbon dioxide removal (CDR) while restoring marsh ecosystems. This project will contribute societal value by driving innovation and new approaches in Earth Sciences, Ocean Sciences, and Marine and Coastal Engineering. It will produce a rigorous, cost-effective method for carbon dioxide removal to generate carbon credits that can be bought on carbon exchanges to achieve net-zero emissions. Once at scale, the technology could permanently capture millions of tons of carbon/year at $100 per ton. The impact on the lives of US citizens could be significant, both through green job creation and through climate crisis mitigation.This project will develop Enhanced Blue Carbon (EBC), a novel, nature-based, carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technology that combines and improves two of the most cost effective, scalable, and permanent CDR technologies: Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) and Blue Carbon (BC). The proposed research consists of a field trial that will produce a carbon quantification model, ecological impact report, and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) determining the efficiency and safety of EBC. This experiment is the first of its kind and is a critical step in developing a third-party accredited measurement-reporting-verification (MRV) methodology that directly connects EBC to carbon markets. The efficiency and safety of EBC will be assessed through geochemical and biogeochemical characterization of porewater, sediments, and biomass collected during the field trial. This data will be integrated in a proprietary 1-dimensional reactive-transport model that can be used to estimate carbon removal potential in EBC projects.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.