Click through these slides for an overview of the kinds of activity that could happen from the Weymouth SEA LIFE facility over the coming years

Understanding how marine life and ecosystems would react to commercial scale carbon removal

• Looking for ecosystem impacts in large tanks at SEA LIFE Weymouth, which would allow assessment of a wider range of species and longer time windows than has been possible in the lab.
• Performing marine impact experiments in floating containers at-sea to more realistically represent ocean conditions.
• Undertaking marine ecosystem surveys to ensure no unintended consequences downstream of the plant.

Illustrative images. Image credits: PML, Kiel.

Verify the effectiveness of carbon removal

• Performing multi-season or multi-year trials so we understand any cumulative effect and the response to changing conditions.
• Following released seawater using visible or invisible 'dyes' so we can compare the chemistry of the released water to nearby untouched seawater.
• Data collection using boats, buoys, and autonomous vehicles to gather detailed information on water composition and movement.

Illustrative images. Image credits: PML, SCRIPPS, Carbon to Sea.

Technology and approaches

• Explore a similar but different approach (Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement), where the carbon storage potential of seawater is increased rather than carbon being taken out of the water (see further information from the main page).
• Improve on the engineering design of technology in the lab, then test at SEA LIFE.
• Increasing water flow at the site to give a better 'signal to noise' when looking at the water downstream of the plant
• Potentially undertake short-term carbon removal trials from boats away from the coast, to allow data to be generated on the response to more intensive operation.

Illustrative images. Image credits: PML.

If the work is looking promising, there may be opportunities to investigate large scale activity in the Weymouth area.