Keeling Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

Vesta is dedicated to reversing climate change globally while supporting coastal ecosystems. To achieve this, Vesta has integrated science, engineering, and regulatory capabilities into a coherent carbon dioxide removal solution known as Coastal Carbon Capture (CCC). Built on 30 years of promising lab-based studies, rigorous demonstration pilots are the key next step to advance this massively scalable nature-based climate solution. 

Within 3 years of being founded, Vesta broke a 30 year scientific barrier by conducting the world‚ first Coastal Carbon Capture field deployments in 2022. As the first to deploy field pilots in the broader field of Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE), our work is contributing necessary field-based research into how the oceans can be used to combat climate change while enhancing coastal ecosystems. Coastal Carbon Capture has the potential to remove more than a gigatonne of CO2 annually, and Vesta has already taken historic steps to unlock this climate-saving potential.

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How Project Affects Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions:

We take the natural mineral olivine, grind it down to make carbon-removing sand, and introduce the sand in coastal areas. There, the sand gradually dissolves, permanently removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Once the sand has been placed, no maintenance or further intervention is required, and the carbon removal process is irreversible.This works by accelerating a natural process called mineral weathering, where exposed rocks naturally remove carbon dioxide, via the carbonate silicate cycle. Mineral weathering is how the Earth regulates atmospheric CO2 levels on long timescales (i.e., millions of years). At present, mineral weathering naturally removes 0.5 Gt CO2/year from the atmosphere (Renforth and Henderson, 2017). Coastal Carbon Capture (also known as Coastal Enhanced Weathering, CEW) accelerates this process to timescales relevant for addressing the climate crisis.Coastal Carbon Capture has the potential to be one of the most scalable, permanent, and energy efficient methods for combating climate change. Once the olivine sand dissolves in seawater, it generates new ocean alkalinity resulting in the conversion of carbon dioxide into bicarbonate, where it remains for over 80,000 years (E.g., Berner and Berner, 1987). Recent studies continue to corroborate Coastal Carbon Capture‚ permanence relative to human timescales (Renforth and Henderson, 2017). Since the process is a naturally-occurring inorganic chemical reaction, there are no physical, socioeconomic, technological, or biological factors which impact the durability of carbon storage. Additionally, CCC may exceed already high scalability estimates, with studies showing Coastal Carbon Captures has the potential to remove more than 3 gigatonnes of CO2 per year from the atmosphere (Feng et al., 2017). Coastal Carbon Capture is 100x as energy efficient as Direct Air Capture and very CO2-efficient (removing 20+ tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere for every tonne of CO2 emitted in the entire supply chain). Our small-scale New York pilot is projected to remove ~500 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, or the equivalent of the annual emissions of 100 cars. Vesta‚ Massachusetts site is currently contributing the first field research into the use of olivine in marsh restoration projects and its potential to increase the carbon removal efficiency of blue carbon sites. Once data collection and analysis from these sites is complete, Vesta will publish our results.

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Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

Vesta's work has contributed to filling knowledge gaps in the social sciences regarding perceptions and inclusion of negative emissions technologies in the Global South. At our research station in the Dominican Republic, we learned from, collaborated with, funded, and trained local scientists and organizations. Vesta hired a local female community engagement leadership team to guide the workstream and through baseline surveys, information sessions, focus groups, and qualitative interviews, Vesta gained a deep understanding of the local community‚ perceptions of climate change and their desire for local inclusion in climate solutions. We published a paper based on our social science and community engagement work in the Dominican Republic, including local authors in the publication. Based on community feedback, our local give-back program co-designed a three month sewing program with the local Women‚ Group. By providing sewing machines and classes, the Women‚ Group has access to a new source of income (with many expressing desire to sell items at local tourist stalls), while also introducing a new skill into the community that can be passed on. 

At our New York deployment, Vesta regularly engages with community members and operates an internship program for local high school students to gain early climate science experience.

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