Keeling Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

Rapidly increasing levels of human-generated CO2 are changing Earth‚ climate and acidifying seawater, putting marine life and coastal communities at risk. To restore the health of our climate and ocean, Ebb Carbon is developing a way to safely store more CO2 in the ocean while reducing, not increasing, ocean acidification. Our solution is inspired by nature‚ carbon dioxide regulation process, in which rocks are weathered by rain, removing CO2 from the air and washing alkalinity to the sea. Launched in 2021 by seasoned climate technologists with collectively six decades‚ experience scaling clean technologies, Ebb Carbon has developed a system that uses electrochemistry to accelerate that process. We use low-carbon electricity and seawater to create alkalinity that can be returned to the ocean. Over weeks to months, the alkalinity removes CO2 from the air and stores it as bicarbonate - a permanent form of CO2 storage for 10,000+ years.

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How Project Affects Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions:

Removes/stores GHGs (e.g., projects that capture, sequester, or otherwise enhance the "sinks" that accumulate and store GHGs)

Best Estimate of GHG Avoidance/Reduction of This Project (Tonnes CO2 Equivalent/Year):

Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

We are committed to working with local communities to help mitigate ocean acidification locally and deliver co-benefits to the communities in which we operate. To that end, we are actively pursuing partnerships with indigenous communities and envision many potential modes of collaboration, including co-designing a data monitoring and verification plan, collaborating on research to study the impact of our system on local marine life, and/or co-locating a system on tribal lands and waters. 
By addressing ocean acidification locally, our approach can provide employment and reprieve for the local communities that depend on the ocean ecosystems for their livelihood whether through shellfish farming, fishing, or tourism.
Ebb Carbon also has a recruiting policy that pulls forward traditionally underrepresented individuals including women and people of color. We are supporting youth through a number of class projects and mentorships at universities. We are hiring interns to provide an entry point for young people into the field and we bring what we learn back to our teaching in the classroom.

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Mission Statement:

To deploy our systems at the scale needed to impact climate change, Ebb is working with public, private, philanthropic and community partners to test and pilot our systems in coastal areas. Currently, we are focused on areas like the Pacific Northwest that are prone to ocean acidification due to seasonal upwelling, which threatens the local economy and communities. We are exploring partnerships with the industries and communities most impacted by ocean acidification, including shellfish operations and indigenous communities who depend on local fish, shellfish, and other marine species for their livelihoods, food, and cultural practices.