Full Title: Harnessing The Ocean: How Closed System Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (MCDR) Can Contribute to Meeting Global Decarbonization Goals
Author(s): Andrea Siri, Jasmina Hodzic, Pietro Romanin, Karan Mistry, Alex Dewar, Ferrante Benvenuti, Katherine Phillips, Amy Sims, and Habib Azarabadi
Publisher(s): Boston Consulting Group
Publication Date: December 9, 2024
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Description (excerpt):
Durable carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is critical to meeting global decarbonization goals, particularly as emissions reductions alone could leave 6–10 Gtpa (gigatons per annum) of CO₂ unabated by the year 2050. In the near term, if companies proceed with meeting declared net zero targets by 2030, CDR demand could range from ~40–200 Mtpa (megatons per annum) CO2 to as high as ~1.1–1.6 Gtpa CO2. This contrasts sharply with an expected supply of just 15–32 Mtpa, requiring the adoption of all viable carbon removal pathways.
The recent agreement reached at the COP29 on Art. 6, promoting the establishment of a global carbon market, will play a significant role in advancing CDR development. Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (MCDR) offers untapped potential, leveraging the ocean’s vast capacity as a carbon sink. Publishing robust scientific evidence demonstrating no harmful effects, improving Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) and enabling regulation can help make MCDR a viable pathway, contributing to the global need for
durable carbon removal.
MCDR can be classified into open and closed systems, depending on how carbon is
managed and whether it is isolated from the broader environment. Open systems are classed as such because captured CO2 interacts with the ocean or atmosphere and may release stored carbon over time, whereas closed systems are controlled environments that isolate carbon removal processes. This paper is focused on closed system MCDR only, for the reasons outlined below.