Singapore plans to build the world's largest ocean CO2 removal plant

The Equatic-1 plant is expected to use electrolysis technology to remove up to 10 tons of CO2 per day from seawater and the atmosphere .

The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) cooperates with the National Water Authority of Singapore and other agencies to build Equatic-1, the world's largest ocean CO ₂ removal plant , New Atlas reported on February 29 . The plant is expected to be able to remove 3,650 tons of CO ₂ per year, while producing 105 tons of carbon-negative hydrogen.

Simulation of the world's largest ocean CO2 removal plant, expected to be built in Singapore _. (Photo: Equatic).

The Equatic-1 project follows the successful deployment of two pilot marine CO2 removal systems _in Los Angeles and Singapore in 2023. This will be a full-scale demonstration plant at a cost of approximately 20 million USD.

The plant's process uses electrolysis, which passes electricity through seawater from neighboring desalination plants. This creates chemical reactions that break water into hydrogen and oxygen, while safely storing dissolved CO _{2 and atmospheric CO 2} as solid magnesium- and calcium-based materials for at least 10,000 years. . The process helps boost the ocean's natural ability to store CO _{2 by removing dissolved CO 2} , while allowing the ocean to absorb more greenhouse gases.

A team of researchers and experts from the Institute of Carbon Management (ICM) and UCLA startup Equatic will travel to a research and development facility in Tuas, west of Singapore, to begin building an ocean _CO2 removal plant. largest in the world in the next 18 months.

Equatic-1 is expected to be built in two phases, the first phase starting in March, aiming to remove one ton of CO ₂ per day by the end of 2024. In early 2025, the installation of nine more modules will marks the completion of phase two. With 10 active modules, it is expected that Equatic-1 can remove 10 tons of CO ₂ per day from seawater and the atmosphere.

The pilot plant in Singapore was deemed a success after removing 0.1 tonnes of CO ₂ per day, while Equatic-1 will remove 100 times as much CO _{2 .} In addition, Equatic-1's technology can also simultaneously produce nearly 300kg of carbon-negative hydrogen per day.

_{According to the World Bank, the global average CO 2} emissions in 2020 were 4.3 tons per capita. Therefore, plants like Equatic-1 can play an important role in helping to treat these emissions.