🍄 Breathing Blue

Take a deep breath. Now another. One of those two lungfuls of air was provided by phytoplankton, which produce 70% of Earth’s oxygen. We're riding a $1.3 billion blue carbon wave...

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Hello, we’re Alice and we are always in a state of wander. By 2030 human health is intricately linked to ocean health. Water is climate—and the ocean is essentially the biggest engine on the planet. 71 percent of the surface of our blue planet is covered by water. And almost all of it—96.5 percent—is salt water. The ocean generates 50 percent of the oxygen we need, absorbs 25 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions and captures 90 percent of the excess heat generated by these emissions. It is not just ‘the lungs of the planet’ but also it is the largest ‘carbon sink’— a vital buffer against the impacts of climate change. These saltwater bodies absorb solar radiation and release the heat needed to drive atmospheric circulation. While many ecopreneurs focus on decarbonizing the air, the tide is turning towards “blue carbon”— carbon captured by the world's ocean and coastal ecosystems—as the Jetstream towards climate neutral.

Blue Bioremediation

Blue is the new green, and it’s believed that ocean-based carbon-removal holds the potential for longer-term sequestration of human-produced CO_2.  Plankton are leading the swell— the trillions and trillions of microscopic plants that float around are, in fact, the custodians of the Earth’s climate. Yet, according to NASA, their numbers have started decline, at one percent year on year. Why should we care? The world's ocean and coastal systems are our natural carbon sinks, including seagrass meadow, mangrove, kelp forest, and salt marsh ecosystems, known to sequester, store, and release carbon over thousands of years.

While trees get a lot of our carbon-credit, we have come to realize that it's plankton that makes 70% of our oxygen. 

Often referred to ‘pastures of the sea’ (because they feed almost everything from sponges to sharks), plankton productivity is 1000 times quicker than the growth of trees. One positive step in proliferating the power of plankton is if we humans stop the discharge of plastics and toxic chemicals, we could allow the oceanic ecosystem to recover and plankton productivity to bounce back and start to use more carbon dioxide.

The other is in geoengineering plankton pastures. Many plankton pastures are held back by iron shortages, especially in places that are largely cut off from continental dust and dirt. With access to more iron, the plankton would proliferate and siphon more and more planet-heating CO₂ from the atmosphere. Iron fertilization could potentially sequester as much as one billion metric tons of carbon dioxide annually and keep it deep in the ocean for centuries. That is slightly more than the CO₂ output of the German economy, and roughly one-eighth of humanity’s entire greenhouse gas output. A research strategy study for ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) funded by the U.S. government aims to better understand overarching challenges for ocean-based CO₂ removal approaches, including the potential economic and social impacts.

A Whale of Good

Phytoplankton is the plant group of plankton that use sunlight to synthesize food from carbon dioxide and water, and is the oldest and most complete form of nutrition known. These organisms produce numerous chemical compounds used in cosmetics and functional foods today—and they are a critical food source for whales. 

When it comes to saving the planet, one whale is worth thousands of trees.

One “no-tech” strategy scientists propose to capture more carbon from the atmosphere: Increase global whale populations.

The carbon capture potential of whales is truly startling. According to marine biologists, whales accumulate carbon in their bodies during their long lives—each great whale sequesters 33 tons of CO₂ on average, taking that carbon out of the atmosphere for centuries. A tree, meanwhile, absorbs only up to 48 pounds of CO₂ a year. And when a whale dies, it sinks to the ocean floor, sequestering that carbon it has captured over its lifetime.

Whales are also responsible for increasing phytoplankton production wherever they go. It turns out that whales’ waste products contain exactly the substances—notably iron and nitrogen—phytoplankton need to grow.

“If whales were allowed to return to their pre-whaling number of 4 to 5 million—from slightly more than 1.3 million today—it could add significantly to the amount of phytoplankton in the oceans and to the carbon they capture each year. At a minimum, even a 1 percent increase in phytoplankton productivity thanks to whale activity would capture hundreds of millions of tons of additional CO₂ a year, equivalent to the sudden appearance of 2 billion mature trees. Imagine the impact over the average lifespan of a whale, more than 60 years.” —from “Nature’s Solution to Climate Change” via IMF.

Floating Forests

Plankton blooms and pastures aren’t the only marine rockstars—seaweed forests, like massive underwater towers of kelp, are now shown to play a role in fighting climate change. Lately, seaweed has a good reputation—heralded as a sustainable superfood, a biodegradable replacement for plastic packaging and a feed supplement to cut cows’ methane emissions. But more recently, it gained a bad rap as news headlines warned of a massive 5,000-mile smelly sargassum blob (brown seaweed) drifting across the Atlantic to invade the shores of Florida. (Update: we all survived it).

Perhaps that drift wasn’t for naught. A study by researchers at Conservation International and the University of Western Australia found that seaweeds—particularly seaweed forests—absorb as much climate-warming carbon as the Amazon rainforest. But like any great property value, location makes a big difference. Seaweed forests in polar regions absorb more carbon than those in warmer, tropical waters. That’s because cool, nutrient-rich waters support the tallest forests, which are better at absorbing carbon.

In an interview on Conservation News, the study’s lead author Albert Pessarrodona explains that seaweed absorbs carbon as it grows. Then, when it dies, some of it can drop to the bottom of the ocean or be buried into layers of sediment where the carbon can be sequestered for up to hundreds of years (a similar fate of the great whales). Seaweed forests growing near the deep ocean, such as in oceanic islands and canyons, or near fjords, where lots of sedimentation occurs, have greater potential for carbon sequestration. The researchers have created a framework as part of the study to categorize coastlines based on their carbon sequestration potential, since in most of the deep-sea areas it is difficult to measure carbon. But the coastlines can be the most critical. With its many fjords, cool water and prolific seaweed forests, Chile’s coastline, for example, is going to have greater carbon sequestration potential than a coastline in the tropics that doesn’t have the same conditions.

Carbon Munching Microbes

Not to be outdone by its sister plankton, a type of cyanobacteria— a bacterial form of phytoplankton—discovered off the coast of a volcanic island near Sicily is said to eat carbon dioxidem"astonishingly quickly."

The carbon capture potential of cyanobacteria is already widely studied, but what sets this new strain apart is that its absorption rate is unparalleled. Funded by the biotechnology company Seed Health, a team of researchers from Harvard and Cornell universities in the US and the University of Palermo in Sicily, and with help from the Vulcano community, found a microbe that converted CO₂ into biomass faster than other known cyanobacteria. The biomass produced by microbes can be grown on non-arable land and in seawater. As reported in BBC Future Planet, the rapid microbial munchers were found in the underwater hydrothermal vents off the island of Vulcano, in shallow water that is exposed to sunlight, creating the perfect carbon buffet.

According to lead researcher Braden Tierney, a data scientist focusing on microbiology at Weill Cornell Medical College and Harvard Medical School, and executive director of the Two Frontiers Project, “Early data showed [this new strain] generated 22% more biomass than the other fastest growing strains out there." As it grows denser and heavier, the microbe sinks in the water, which helps it sequester the CO₂ it absorbs.

Tierney and his team have also travelled to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in search of more carbon-gobbling microbes. The region is "a hotbed of activity for carbonated springs" and dissolved CO₂ concentrations are up to a thousand times higher than Sicily's volcanic seeps. The researchers isolated microbe strains there with "much higher CO₂ levels than what we actually saw in Sicily," says Tierney.

Putting microbes to work in carbon capture is more cost-effective than harnessing technologies such as direct air capture, explains Helen Onyeaka, an industrial microbiologist and associate professor at the University of Birmingham in the UK. They are also "inherently scalable" as microbes "can be deployed in diverse environments, from open ponds to bioreactors," she adds.

The Carbon Sponge

Algae produced the oxygen which created biodiversity in the Earth billions of years ago. This is the same algae that can sequester carbon dioxide to produce the oxygen needed today—and in the future.

Algae production is an emerging sector of the blue bioeconomy encompassing macroalgae, microalgae, and the cyanobacteria Spirulina. Algal biodiesel is an alternative used today to decrease the consumption of fossil fuels. Like fossil fuel, algal biofuel releases CO₂ when burnt, but unlike fossil fuel, the carbon is taken out of the atmosphere by the next generation of growing algae.

A new eco-strategy is to introduce algae into the food supply chain as an alternative protein, creating algae farms to avoid planting new agricultural fields that we will desperately need to feed the burgeoning global population. Thanks to algae’s high protein content, one hectare of algae ponds can generate 27 times as much protein as a hectare of soybeans. And protein from algae is more nutritious than protein from soy, because it contains vitamins and minerals in addition to all the essential amino acids.

The hope is that algae farms will take the load off farmlands, possibly allowing the land to rewild to forests, which absorb more greenhouse gases per square kilometer. Another twist to algae farming is that algae need CO₂ to grow— and to grow large amounts very quickly, farmers must inject CO₂ directly into the crop. That means every algae farm could double as a carbon sponge.

Save the Marshes

Mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrass meadows are a rich part of the blue carbon ecosystem (BCE). Though these habitats occupy a relatively small area of the global ocean, they accumulate organic rich soils that can often extend to many meters deep and provide long-term storage of organic carbon.

The International Blue Carbon Initiative, a global program focused on mitigating climate change through the conservation and restoration of coastal and marine ecosystems, focuses on mangroves, salt marshes and seagrasses, which are found on every continent except Antarctica. Mangroves, for example, are estimated to be worth at least US$1.6 billion each year in ecosystem services that support coastal livelihoods and human populations around the world.

Mangroves are known for large carbon stocks and high sequestration rates in biomass and soils, making these intertidal wetlands a cost-effective strategy for some nations to compensate for a portion of their carbon dioxide emissions. Brazil is home of the second largest mangrove area in the world that holds 8.5% of the global mangrove carbon stocks (biomass and soils combined). Brazilian mangroves store up to 4.3 times more carbon in the top meter of soil and are second in biomass carbon stocks only to the Amazon forest. Researchers have identified Brazilian mangroves as a major global blue carbon hotspot and suggest that their loss could potentially release substantial amounts of CO₂.

In other parts of the world, climate stress and sea level rise are significantly affecting mangrove distribution and its carbon-eating potential. In the Middle East, it has been estimated that 96% of coastal wetlands, which include mangroves, could be lost this century due to sea level rise. Then there is the coastal “squeeze”—between the increase of human settlements, rising sea levels and changing rainfall.

Rising Tides

According to a special report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned in 2019 that the ocean is warmer, more acidic and less productive as a result of climate change. It cited that increased ocean temperature is affecting marine ecosystems and the services they provide; the increased concentration of CO₂ is changing the chemical composition of the ocean impacting the marine food web; the melting of ice sheets is causing sea level rise and associated consequences for coastal communities, while ocean-related extreme weather patterns are more frequent and stronger.

The Catch-22

While climate tech VC money is flowing towards blue carbon biotech, there is still much cooperative research needed beyond the scientific community to a diverse one that includes conservation and private sector organizations, governments, and intergovernmental bodies committed to marine conservation and climate change mitigation and adaptation. In an article in Nature Communications, researchers raised concern to prioritize future research in blue carbon, to further understand how climate change affects carbon accumulation in mature blue carbon ecosystems, especially during their restoration. Collaboration is key in light that the market for blue biotechnology is being restricted by stricter rules and regulations as NGOs and governments throughout the world increase their efforts to safeguard aquatic and marine areas. But one thing is clear: we can’t continue on this carbon-intense trajectory without partnering with nature to help rebalance what we humans have bio-disrupted.

Leading Indicators

🧠 The flow of money
The Blue Biotechnology market industry is projected to grow from USD $0.5 Billion in 2023 to USD $1.3 Billion by 2032. Some early supporters include the Blue Carbon Accelerator Fund (BCAF) that supports the development of blue carbon restoration and conservation projects in developing countries and helps pave the way for private sector finance. ACCELR8 out of Boston is an impact fund that invests in companies working on sustainable climate solutions, aiming to reduce and sequester greenhouse gases while partnering with founders who can create exponential change toward climate goals.

🧠 Wave Power
Ocean-based Climate Solutions uses wave power to trigger phytoplankton blooms that quickly sequester CO₂. The vision is to end the climate crisis, enabling Earth’s infinite wave power to slow global warming and return life to the sea. Their Autonomous Upwelling Pumps can grow enough phytoplankton to remove approximately 20,000 to 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide over its life. 

🧠 Blue Carbon Credits
Running Tide, based in the US, delivered the first-ever carbon removal credits to Shopify. The startup sank wood waste to the seafloor that could sequester carbon for hundreds or even thousands of years. The company is running the world's largest carbon removal research operation in the North Atlantic.

What else we are wondering…

🔍 Bioengineering marine bacteria
Researchers at the Wyss Institute are working to reduce global warming by genetically turbocharging the natural ability of marine bacteria (also known as synechoccus cyanobactiera) to pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

🔍 Coral Reef Farming
Coral Vita creates high-tech coral farms that incorporate breakthrough methods to restore reefs utilizing techniques to grow coral up to 50x faster while boosting their resiliency against the warming and acidifying oceans that threaten their survival. They then out-plant these corals back into degraded reefs, bringing them back to life.

🔍 Regenerative Ocean Farming
Kee Farms is a networked, regenerative ocean farm cultivating and harvesting seaweed and oysters biomass into useful value chain products that sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

🔍 Designing Across Scales
Biodesign Challenge 2023 outstanding science winner: BacTerra is a research project investigating the potential for biomaterials to reduce carbon emissions from the building industry. Drawing inspiration from plankton, mollusks, and birds that fabricate shells through the precipitation of calcium carbonate, the team combined clay, B. subtilis bacteria, and sea urchin shells to produce a biomineralization process.

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