Coastal Carbon

Preventing the release of CO2 and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere is crucial. Yet, lowering emissions alone will not be sufficient to meet the set climate targets. We must also investigate approaches that actively remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Coastal enhanced silicate weathering as a negative emissions technology uses the natural process of silicate weathering for the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. Not only does this technique increase the CO2 sequestration capacity of our oceans, it also counteracts ocean acidification and can be directly integrated into existing coastal management programs. However, so far there has not yet been a rigorous assessment of the CO2 sequestration efficiency and environmental impact of enhanced silicate weathering. This project addresses these critical bottlenecks. The Coastal Carbon project investigates the potential of enhanced silicate weathering in coastal environments by studying the processes at those locations where silicate weathering is naturally occurring and by operation of a large scale mesocosm setup. Coastal Carbon is an interdisciplinary research project executed in collaboration between three Belgian universities, Flemish and Belgian research institutes and commercial partners: University of Antwerp, Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), Ghent University, DEME, Sibelco, CO2-Logic, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) as our funding agency.