Project: A Seagoing Field Trial Program for Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement on the Northeast Shelf of the United States

The LOC-NESS project (short for Locking Ocean Carbon in the Northeast Shelf and Slope) is a research effort that addresses the need identified by the US Federal Government and the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to rapidly advance research into marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (mCDR) approaches that might reduce the impacts of climate change that are already being felt locally and globally. The project is carefully designed to answer essential questions about the effectiveness and environmental impacts of ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE), a potential type of mCDR that de-acidifies sea water while storing carbon away from the atmosphere. This project is not a pathway to, or an endorsement for, OAE. The project team is made up of scientists, engineers, and communicators who are committed to a transparent, rigorous, scientific evaluation of OAE. We are not a company and are not participating in the voluntary carbon market. The project goals are to:    

1. Evaluate how regional ocean conditions and human activities would interact with OAE,  

2. Conduct realistic laboratory experiments that assess the biological impacts and the engineered safety of OAE,

3. Design and conduct a small scale, highly monitored field trial of alkalinity enhancement,

4. Use an ocean model to expand upon the field trial data, 

5. Engage with communities who care about the impact of OAE on our regional waters.