Technological OCDR II — Electrochemical Removal & Direct Ocean Capture
Replace the minerals with electricity, and ocean carbon removal starts to look like a factory — the most controllable and meterable process in the field, and the most power-hungry. Part 6 of 7 The last post added alkalinity to the sea by dissolving rock. This one does the same chemistry — and more — with electricity. By running seawater through an electrochemical cell , these approaches manipulate ocean chemistry directly, with a dial-like control the mineral methods can't match. It is the most industrial corner of ocean carbon removal: less “spread a mineral and wait,” more “build a plant and meter the output.” That shift changes almost everything, including the measurement problem that has shadowed every post so far. The core idea: splitting seawater Every approach in this post starts from the same move. Pass seawater through a cell and apply electricity, and you can split it into two streams: an acid stream and a base (alkaline) stream. Seawater is full of dissolved ...