The Biden administration is looking into the ocean’s potential to absorb carbon dioxide from the earth’s atmosphere. In March, the White House released its Ocean Climate Action Plan, which calls for research into how marine carbon dioxide removal (CDR) can be utilized. On February 28, 2024, the US National Science Foundation established a federal research program as the first step towards this goal.

The ocean serves as the earth’s biggest carbon reservoir, accumulating on the ocean floors through phytoplankton. Scientists will use marine CDR to speed up removing carbon from the atmosphere (for instance, by cultivating seaweed or microalgae). Changing the alkalinity of seawater through electricity may also help absorb carbon from the atmosphere.

In a related development, the US Department of Energy is allotting billions of dollars to fund the development of direct air capture hubs, which may be used to sip carbon from the earth’s surface. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released $24.3 million in September to fund 17 marine CDR research projects.