SeaCURE seeks to enhance this capacity further by extracting CO₂ from seawater, thereby enabling further absorption of atmospheric CO₂.
The plant, which is built at Weymouth Sea Life Centre on the south coast of England – has been funded with thanks to a £3 million grant from the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), as part of its search for technologies that fight climate change.
It is one of 15 pilot projects being backed in the UK as part of efforts to develop technologies that capture and store greenhouse gases.
The process involves acidifying seawater in order to convert dissolved carbon into gaseous CO₂, which is then captured and stored. The treated water is subsequently rebalanced using alkaline substances before being returned to the marine environment. Although the current scale is modest – removing around 100 tonnes of CO₂ annually – the project aims to assess the feasibility of expanding this method as part of broader carbon dioxide removal strategies.
In parallel, SeaCURE scientists, including Guy Hooper – PhD researcher with Plymouth Marine Lab and the University of Exeter – are studying potential ecological impacts. As marine organisms such as phytoplankton and molluscs depend on dissolved carbon for processes like photosynthesis and shell formation, understanding and mitigating any adverse effects is essential.
This work represents an important step in the development of ocean-based carbon dioxide removal technologies. Continued scientific evaluation will be key to ensuring that such interventions are both effective and environmentally responsible.
SeaCURE is led by the University of Exeter’s Global Systems Institute, alongside Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Brunel University London and industrial partner Eliquo Hydrok.
