IRON FERTILIZATION OF OCEANS: A REAL OPTION FOR CARBON DIOXIDE REDUCTION?

Iron Fertilization Of Oceans: A Real Option For Carbon Dioxide Reduction?
ScienceDaily (June 10, 2007) — Over the last weeks, commercial efforts have been launched to manipulate a portion of the Pacific Ocean to increase the uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide by artificially enhancing phytoplankton activity. A research vessel is currently sailing to the Galapagos Sea to seed an area larger than Puerto Rico with tonnes of iron, to stimulate the CO2 sequestration into the deep ocean. However, such iron fertilization is also a way of generating carbon offsets, whereby CO2 polluters can buy “ecosystem restoration credits” and shrink their carbon footprint.

This experiment is based on the fact that in about one-third of the surface ocean, the growth of phytoplankton is limited by the lack of iron; a well researched phenomenon. However, a valuable question to raise is to what extent artificial iron fertilization represents a real option for CO2 reduction. Indeed, a group of EUR-OCEANS scientists using the Kerguelen Plateau as a site study for natural iron fertilization of the Southern Ocean, recently showed that artificial iron fertilization of the surface ocean is a mechanism 10 to 100 times less efficient than the naturally occurring processes, in increasing CO2 capture through the biological pump.
While the scientific community, governments, private sectors and society are coming to a consensus regarding the anthropogenic causes of global warming, the need to consider concrete actions and to develop strategies to reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations and the greenhouse effect is becoming urgent. It is then crucial to examine to what extent oceans could be use to store our excess atmospheric CO2.