Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Announces Shift of Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement Field Trials to Summer 2025

Change was made in response to changing ship availability and to resulting changes in ocean conditions later in the year

Woods Hole, Mass. (August 14, 2024)  – Today, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) announced that the next phase of the LOC-NESS Project, a research program focused on advancing a potential climate solution called ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE), will be shifted from this Fall to the summer of 2025. The phase consists of a controlled and monitored OAE field trial in federal waters off the coast of Massachusetts. It has received significant support from leading scientists, top academic institutions, and environmental advocacy organizations.

This decision to shift from the anticipated mid-September 2024 timing was made because the fully equipped research vessel WHOI planned to use is no longer available. WHOI explored finding a potential replacement vessel, but it was not available until late September, with the possibility of additional delays due to the anticipated active hurricane season. Researchers 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.

The LOC-NESS project aims to provide an objective assessment of the effectiveness and environmental impact of OAE, a potential climate solution that leading scientists believe could remove large amounts of excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and fill knowledge gaps that can contribute to addressing climate change. The phase of research being shifted involves releasing a dissolved form of alkalinity that will quickly dilute to within safe water quality limits in minutes – in order to help answer key questions related to environmental impact and effectiveness of OAE.

Some of the world’s leading scientific bodies, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, have called for a concerted effort to study climate solutions like OAE before they are implemented at scale. Over the last 18 months, the U.S. federal government has invested tens of millions of dollars into improving knowledge about a wide range of ocean-climate solutions. In addition, the White House created a Fast-Track Action Committee (FTAC) on Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal to coordinate research and funding activities across federal agencies.

“We are dedicated to getting the science right,” said Adam Subhas, Associate Scientist in Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry at WHOI, and Project Lead of LOC-NESS. “We are shifting our timeline to account for factors beyond our control, because we want to make sure we have the research vessel we need, with optimal weather conditions. Our trial aims to expand our understanding of the effectiveness and potential environmental impacts of ocean alkalinity enhancement, and that requires the right equipment operating under the proper conditions.”

“Research expeditions are often postponed due to weather, or to crew and equipment availability, and this project is no different,” Subhas continued. ”We’re excited to be among the growing field of scientists working hand-in-hand with the government, philanthropy, and local communities to advance ocean-climate solutions, and we look forward to conducting the field research next year. In the meantime, our project will continue coordinating with state and federal officials, conducting lab work, and reaching out to those who want to know more about our project.”

The Environmental Protection Agency is currently reviewing the LOC-NESS project’s permit for this phase of research and the subsequent phase and WHOI continues to work closely with the Agency as part of that process. This phase was originally planned for August 2024, but it was pushed back to mid-September due to the extension of the EPA’s public comment period, which WHOI supported. Given this phase’s shift to 2025, the next phase planned for the Gulf of Maine has now been scheduled for 2026. Last year, an initial field trial was successfully conducted South of Cape Cod. That initial trial involved the release of inert dye to improve scientists’ ability to track a specific mass of water in the open ocean.

More detailed information about this decision can be found here:

• What happened to the research vessel? The planned OAE field trial was originally scheduled for August on the R/V Connecticut operated by the University of Connecticut. The extension of the EPA’s public comment period related to the permit, which WHOI supported, necessitated a shift to September. That required a change in vessel to the R/V Hugh Sharp operated by the University of Delaware. Last week, WHOI was notified that the R/V Sharp is no longer available for the September time period and no suitable replacement could be found before the end of September.
• Why can’t the field trial happen later in 2024? Obtaining high-quality results during this phase of research requires a warmer surface layer of water. That layering, or stratification, is important because it allows the added alkaline material to remain in the upper ocean, where it is more easily monitored. This allows scientists to obtain more accurate measurements about the uptake of carbon dioxide by alkalinity-enhanced seawater, which is a key scientific objective of the LOC-NESS project. Conducting the field research in late September or early October, let alone later in the year, is not feasible because the warmer surface layer disappears as Fall progresses.

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About Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is a private, non-profit organization on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930, its primary mission is to understand the ocean and its interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate an understanding of the ocean’s role in the changing global environment. WHOI’s pioneering discoveries stem from an ideal combination of science and engineering—one that has made it one of the most trusted and technically advanced leaders in basic and applied ocean research and exploration anywhere. WHOI is known for its multidisciplinary approach, superior ship operations, and unparalleled deep-sea robotics capabilities. We play a leading role in ocean observation and operate the most extensive suite of data-gathering platforms in the world. Top scientists, engineers, and students collaborate on more than 800 concurrent projects worldwide—both above and below the waves—pushing the boundaries of knowledge and possibility. For more information, please visit www.whoi.edu