CNBC
This startup is helping the ocean absorb more harmful carbon emissions
Removing carbon from the atmosphere is a growing field of business in the fight against global warming, but it’s not just big air vacuums doing the work. New technology is targeting an even bigger potential resource: the ocean.
Canary Media
Ebb Carbon wants to pull CO₂ from the sky with electricity and seawater
At a waterfront lab in Sequim Bay, a quiet inlet on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, the startup Ebb Carbon is trying to answer a crucial question for the climate: Can we supercharge the ocean’s role as a carbon sink to help limit global warming?
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Ebb Carbon is operating a 100 ton/year ocean carbon dioxide removal (CDR) system at the marine labs at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Sequim, Washington.
This is a unique deployment with public, private, academic and philanthropic partners that is designed to advance the field of ocean CDR and ensure that future ocean CDR deployments are safe, responsible, and science-driven.
Collaborating on ocean CO2 removal
Working with scientists from PNNL, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and University of Washington, we are:
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Running experiments to measure and model CO2 removal via Ebb's process
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Developing advanced ocean modeling tools to better understand how Ebb’s process removes carbon and mitigates ocean acidification locally
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Researching impacts on local marine life including oysters and eelgrass epifauna—an important food source for salmon
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Publishing our research to drive understanding and transparency
Advancing the science
Ebb’s electrochemical system processes seawater pumped in from Sequim Bay by passing it through a series of membranes. These membranes act like a filter, removing acid from the water.
Once the acid is removed, the seawater can absorb additional CO2 from the air and store it as bicarbonate—a safe and naturally abundant form of carbon storage in the ocean that doesn’t acidify seawater.
