Project Vesta
| Formation | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Type | Public-benefit corporation |
| Purpose | Environmentalism, Environmental science |
| Location |
|
CEO | Tom Green |
Key people |
|
| Website | vesta |
Vesta is a public benefit corporation focused on ocean-based carbon dioxide removal. It researches and performs accelerated weathering of the mineral olivine as a coastal protection strategy which helps the ocean naturally remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. [1][2]
Vesta grinds up naturally abundant olivine into sand and places it on the seashore to help replenish beaches and reverse coastal erosion. The sand then dissolves, aided by the movement of the waves, to increase the alkalinity of the ocean which reverses the harmful effects of climate change-driven ocean acidification and helps the ocean perform its natural process of carbon sequestration permanently.[3]
Vesta's technology plans and measures the process, mapping out how fine to grind the sand, how much sand to use, where exactly to place it, and then measuring the increase in impact on ocean alkalinity over time.[2][4] It currently has a pilot project operating in Southampton, New York and an upcoming project planned in Duck, North Carolina.[5] [6]
In the long term, Vesta's approach could cost as little as $21 and require 40 kilowatt-hours of energy to remove a ton of CO2. Vesta calculates that spreading olivine in 0.25% of the world's shelf seas could be enough to remove 1 billion tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere. [7][8]
History
[edit]Project Vesta originated in the climate change-focused think tank Climitigation.[4][9] Kelly Erhart, who previously co-founded a waterless toilet company[4] and learned of accelerated weathering from a climate report,[1] co-founded Project Vesta in 2019 as a nonprofit headquartered in San Francisco.[10][9][11] Studies had been conducted in laboratory experiments on the process, but no beach experiments had been conducted prior.[1][4] The organization later changed from a non-profit to public benefit corporation, and then rebranded to Vesta in 2022.[12]
The payment processor Stripe pre-paid 3,333 tons worth of carbon sequestration from the company at $75 per ton.[2][4]
In 2022, Vesta was featured in a documentary called Solving for Zero where Bill Gates appeared with five scientists and change makers focused on climate change solutions and research.[13]
In 2022, the town of Southampton, New York, in collaboration with Stony Brook University, and Cornell University's Cooperative Extension, and Project Vesta, began a pilot project to place 500 cubic yards of olivine on a Southampton beach that has been eroding as sea levels rise.[14][15] As part of the pilot and other experiments, the company monitored whether their approach releases concentrations of toxins from the olivine.[4]
In May of 2022, Vesta published its first paper on community engagement, detailing its implementation of deliberative, inclusive, and localized approaches to developing more ethical CDR solutions aligned with climate justice principles.[16]
Process
[edit]Vesta is testing whether the olivine weathering process will mitigate coastal recession[14] and reduce ocean acidification.[4][2][17] Vesta's process mimics natural weathering processes to transform the olivine into silicates and other stable chemicals, like calcium carbonate which precipitate to the oceans bottoms as marine life consumes the naturally occurring chemical and die (see Carbon in the water cycle for further info).[2] The wave action of beaches on crushed olivine allows for more rapid weathering than other natural deposits of olivine, which only absorb limited amounts of carbon dioxide.[4]
Since the olivine weathering process creates molecular byproducts such as calcium carbonate that could alkalinize acidifying seawater or release metals such as bioavailable nickel, the organization also researches chemical composition and toxicology of affected water and aquatic life.[4][12] Project Vesta publishes their scientific findings and as of May 2020 made their methods open source.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Hopper, Nate; Lokting, Britta; Kavin, Kim (16 August 2022). "15 Young Founders Rethinking Everything From Artificial Intelligence to Carbon Removal, Sustainable Fashion to...Pizza!". Entrepreneur. ISSN 0163-3341. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Temple, James (June 22, 2020). "A Caribbean beach could offer a crucial test in the fight to slow climate change". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
- ^ Ratcliffe, Verity; Ma, Michelle (September 28, 2023). "How Seeding the Oceans With Minerals Could Grab Carbon From the Atmosphere". Bloomberg. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Peters, Adele (2020-05-29). "Ever been to a green sand beach? The newest geohack to fight climate change". Fast Company. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
- ^ Merrill, Kitty (May 26, 2022). "Dredge Spoil + Olivine = A Nourished Beach In North Sea". 27east.com. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
- ^ Kozak, Catharine (November 22, 2022). "Carbon capture project proposed for ocean waters off Duck". Coastal Review. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
- ^ Fleming, Amy (23 June 2021). "Cloud spraying and hurricane slaying: how ocean geoengineering became the frontier of the climate crisis". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
- ^ Ratcliffe, Verity; Ma, Michelle (September 28, 2023). "How Seeding the Oceans With Minerals Could Grab Carbon From the Atmosphere". Bloomberg. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
- ^ a b c Delbert, Caroline (2020-06-11). "How This Strange Green Sand Could Reverse Climate Change". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
- ^ Purchia, Robyn (16 July 2022). "Let's keep the climate restoration movement growing". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
- ^ Palmer, Phillip (20 October 2021). "Cutting-edge technology battles climate change by using sand to pull carbon dioxide from atmosphere". ABC7 San Francisco. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ^ a b Temple, James (30 March 2022). "Why using the oceans to suck up CO2 might not be as easy as hoped". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
- ^ "Solving for Zero". IMDB. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
- ^ a b Merrill, Kitty (26 May 2022). "Dredge Spoil + Olivine = A Nourished Beach In North Sea". 27East.com. Southampton Press. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ^ Agard, Sade (26 August 2022). "The mineral that could remove 1 billion tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere and protect shorelines and oceans too- but will it go to scale? Interesting Engineering". Interesting Engineering. Interestingengineering.com. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
- ^ Hilser, Harry; Cox, Emily; Draiby, Andrea; Moreau, Cheyenne; Hiraldo, Lia; Walworth, Nathan; Winks, Lewis (May 22, 2022). "Localized governance of carbon dioxide removal in Small Island Developing States". SSRN. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
- ^ Yeung, Peter (21 December 2021). "Could crushed rocks absorb enough carbon to curb global warming? A little-examined form of geoengineering takes what rocks normally do—lock up carbon—and spreads it through the oceans". National Geographic. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2022.