A controversial experiment to field-test a way to quickly sequester more carbon in the world’s oceans has been pushed back until 2025, according to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). The LOC-NESS project, headed by WHOI, had planned to disseminate 20 metric tons of sodium hydroxide (commonly known as lye) along with tracer dye into the waters off the coast of New England this September. The experiment is meant to test a geoengineering technology known as ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE). OAE is a potential avenue for soaking up carbon quickly and for hopefully combating the worst looming impacts of climate change. But the test has run into issues, including a delay regarding the vessel to be used, plus local pushback. Adam Subhas, a WHOI associate scientist in marine chemistry and geochemistry, who is working on the LOC-NESS project (short for Locking Ocean Carbon in the Northeast Shelf and Slope), said the test was pushed back until next year because the ship the research team planned to use was no longer available. “WHOI explored finding a potential replacement vessel, but it was not available until late September [of this year], with the possibility of additional delays due to the anticipated active hurricane season,” Subhas said. So, the scientists “concluded that the ocean conditions this late in the season would be significantly less favorable for the research, which is dependent on warmer ocean temperatures.” OAE theoretically works like this: You dump alkaline material into the ocean (in this case sodium hydroxide), which…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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