Life cycle assessment of ocean-based carbon dioxide removal approaches: a systematic literature review

Abstract

As climate impacts worsen, novel technologies to draw down atmospheric carbon are gaining attention. One such approach is ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (OCDR). However, the potential environmental side-effects of large-scale OCDR deployment remain understudied. Here, we present a systematic literature review of the life cycle assessments (LCAs) of OCDR approaches. We find that current OCDR LCAs have a limited scope, often overlook environmental impacts beyond global warming, and that LCA as a method is currently limited in capturing aquatic impacts. We provide several recommendations for future work, such as using a functional unit of storing atmospheric carbon over a specified time horizon and in a specified medium, performing cradle-tograve analysis, including more (marine) environmental impacts, and estimating uncertainties. We also emphasise the need to develop the LCA methodology further for better assessing marine environment impacts.