Carbon dioxide removal company Ebb has signed a prepurchase agreement with Google for 3,500 tons of CO2 removal credits based on its technology designed to enhance the ocean’s CO2 absorption. Terms of the deal were undisclosed.
The oceans are the world’s largest carbon sink but the amount of CO2 put into the air now is more than the oceans can absorb. As a result, the oceans are becoming more acidic, which threatens ocean health and reduces the ability of the ocean to absorb additional CO2 from the atmosphere.
Ebb‘s technology begins with mining the toxic brine that remains after industrial desalination. It divides the brine into freshwater, components for future industrial use and alkaline water to be returned to the ocean. It is this alkaline water that affects carbon removal through what is known as marine carbon dioxide removal or mCDR.
Adding alkalinity to acidic seawater has been shown to restore the pH which should allow the ocean to absorb more atmospheric CO2. Several organizations are investigating this type of strategy to determine its efficacy because it is unknown how such adjustments will affect long-term ocean health, especially when the remedy is only applied in specific locations. There is also the question whether it is being used in place of emissions reductions or as an additional measure.
Ebb, which has a new partnership with the Saudi Water Authority (SWA), said that, globally, desalination facilities generate more than a hundred million tons of brine every day. By integrating the system directly into the desalination plants, the company said, it dramatically reduces deployment costs and complexity.
The company has also been collaborating with X, the Moonshot Factory, to explore innovative pathways for using the acid co-product from our ocean alkalinity enhancement process.
“Today marks another meaningful milestone for Ebb: Google has signed a prepurchase agreement for 3,500 tons of Ebb’s ocean-based carbon removal,” wrote Co-Founder and CEO Ben Tarbell in a post. “This one feels like a bit of a homecoming. Before founding Ebb together, Matt Eisaman, Todd Pelman and I worked on climate initiatives within Alphabet. To now partner with Google to accelerate scalable ocean carbon removal is rewarding and exciting.”
