Tackling the technological, environmental, legal, and economic challenges of ocean alkalinity enhancement: A case study from the Baltic sea
Ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) is a possible climate mitigation technology that can remove CO 2 from the atmosphere. Here, we studied the feasibility of OAE in a case study using serpentinite gangue and examined the carbon dioxide removal (CDR) potential, the legal requirements, and the economic viability. The carbon emission factor was estimated to stay below 70 kg CO 2 e t −1 CO 2 removed. Permitting would require the risks for marine ecosystems at the site to be carefully considered. Under the assumptions of this case study, OAE would require CDR credit prices higher than 100 € t −1 CO 2 removed to be economically viable. Commitments of public and private actors to buy OAE credits would reduce market uncertainty and could be a way to promote OAE if the environmental impacts are acceptable.
Authors
- Carolin R. Löscher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2044-6849)
- Ulf Riebesell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9442-452X)
- Jáchym Judl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7393-1883)
- Kristian Spilling (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8390-8270)
- Tuukka Mäkelä (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1122-116X)
- Sonja Lavikko
- Jari Silander
- Anu Lähteenmäki-Uutela
- Markus Latvala
Institutions
- Statistics Finland (FI)
- Geological Survey of Finland (FI)
- National Bureau of Investigation (FI)
- University of Southern Denmark (DK)
- University of Agder (NO)
- Finnish Environment Institute (FI)
- GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- iScience
- Published
- 2026-07-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.116928
- Primary Topic
- CO2 Sequestration and Geologic Interactions
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Academy of Finland
- Suomen Ympäristökeskus