SeaCURE: Sea Carbon Unlocking and REmoval
Led by the University of Exeter together
with the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Brunel University London
and TP Group.
Direct removal of CO2 from
air is hampered by its very low concentration. The
concentration of CO2 in seawater is however
approximately 150 times higher. SeaCURE technology will
process seawater to temporarily make it more acidic, which
helps to get the carbon dioxide to ‘bubble out’. The
technology will then trap that CO2 and concentrate
it to form a near-pure stream of gas to be compressed and
stored. The carbon dioxide-depleted water will then be
released back to the ocean, where it will take up carbon
dioxide from the air. Combining, optimising, and enhancing
existing technology, this project will design a pilot plant
and a pathway to deliver carbon dioxide removal at the
megatonne scale, offering a key solution to perhaps the
planets most pressing problem.
The project is funded by BEIS as part of Phase 1 of the Direct air capture and greenhouse gas removal programme.