Carbon Dioxide Removal Project
Research and development of Carbon Dioxide Removal technology using natural photosynthesis process in the Caspian Sea.
The greatest challenge of the 21st century
Copernicus: October 2023 - Exceptional temperature anomalies; 2023 virtually certain to be warmest year on record.
“Earth's surface temperature will only stabilize once global emissions are reduced to zero, which will require both aggressive emissions reduction efforts and the application of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR).”
“Getting net emissions to zero without CDR is NOT POSSIBLE because some types of emissions are technically difficult to eliminate.”
Researchers find that 10 gigatons of carbon dioxide may need to be pulled from Earth's atmosphere and oceans annually to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees ("Diverse approach key to carbon removal" ScienceDaily).
How climate change is affecting the Caspian region?
State of the global Carbon Dioxide Removal
Annual removal of 10 Gt of CO2 from the atmosphere is required.
There is growing interest from greenhouse gas emitting companies in carbon credits to meet their carbon neutrality (and negativity) targets. There is a global race of CDR technologies.
Businesses have a growing commitment to ESG. Trends in climate solutions and investment in green technologies are growing.
There is insufficient capacity of all viable and widely scalable technologies and solutions in the world to remove 10Gt CO2e/year.
There is a lack of sufficient supply of quality carbon offsets priced below $100/tCO2e with a high speed of delivery (1-2 years).
There is a lack of sufficient climate projects with a good set of co-benefits in line with ESG.
Durable CDR demand and market size across scenarios (2030-2040)
Purchases of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) devices increased 437% during the first half of 2023
Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) has seen a rapid growth in 2023 amid uncertainties and blows, and set a record high increase in purchases of 437% for the first half this year versus full-year 2022, data according to CDR.fyi.
Nature-based solution
CaspianCDR relies on a nature-based solution to mitigate global climate change by removing excess carbon from the atmosphere.
The project involves studying the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere by microalgae in the middle part of the Caspian Sea at the megaton level (1.5-2 million tonnes per year), using the natural process of photosynthesis, under controlled (intensive) conditions of a coastal installations (aquaponds).
Microalgae are the most important types of bioenergy-producing and environmentally friendly media used in carbon sequestration.
It has been established that 1 hectare of microalgae aquaculture is capable of absorbing about 100 t. CO2 per growing season. Starting from the very first year.
While forestry projects (afforestation and restoration) provide only up to 20 t. absorbed CO2 per year from 1 ha. Delivery of forestry offsets may be prolonged up to decade.
Due to their nature (for example, their extremely high rate of reproduction), microalgae sequester more carbon than land plants, and do so much faster.
This allows us to ensure the highest rate of carbon offset (1 year versus 20 years of forest growth), better control of biomass, and not be afraid of the risk of forest fires, which is catastrophic for re/afforestation projects.
In addition to directly removing carbon from the atmosphere, the project provides a wide range of local and regional ESG benefits.
This includes the creation of highly skilled jobs, food additives, feed and fertilizers.
The project will support the development of agriculture in the region, including aquaculture.
How does algae-based CDR stack up against other methods?
"Fundamentally a good CDR solution needs to be five things: 1) scalable 2) additive 3) quantifiable 4) permanent and 5) affordable. Brilliant Planet is scalable and additive because we operate in vast empty deserts. We’re measurable because we have verifiable physical control of our biomass through to the point of final burial and can measure the carbon content of algae. Meanwhile, nature-based solutions like soil carbon or sunk seaweed come up against this Achilles' heel of measurability. "
Raffael Jovine for Climate Tech VC
The Team
Our international team includes representatives of 6 scientific organizations and enterprises, 4 PhDs, 2 professors, highest h-index = 12, average age 30 years.
Duysen, Olzhas T. (Kazakhstan)
Sailybayev, Yernar R. (Kazakhstan)
Zhu, Chenba (China)
Kokabi, Kamilya (Kazakhstan)
Mukasheva, Togzhan D. (Kazakhstan)
Berzhanova, Ramza Z. (Kazakhstan)
Baimukanov, Mirgaliy T. (Kazakhstan)
International academia support
Caspian Environmental Consortium Ltd. is a registered member of the Ocean Decade Network since april 2023.
Caspian Environmental Consortium Ltd. is part of a network of Global-ONCE projects since april 2023.
A member of our team was represented on the Global ONCE Executive Committee.
Member of our team is one of the volunteer rapporteurs of the Columbia Law School SabinCenter for Climate Change Law.
Member of our team is a member of the Isometric Science Network since August 2023.
Our assets
The material and technical base of the Consortium includes a microbiological laboratory, biotechnological production of bacterial yeast bioproduct and microalgae, special equipment for agro-technical works.
Expected result
By the end of 2026:
The first high quality carbon offset of the 30 hectare Pilot Facility should be available for delivery or pre-purchase of up to 3,000 t of CO2e.
The potential for additional co-benefits in the form of fresh water, laboratory samples of functional foods and additives, feeds and fertilisers should be investigated.
By the end of 2036:
Up to 2,000 Ha should be covered by the First Expansion Stage with a potential annual delivery of up to 200,000 t of CO2e.
Work breakdown for Pilot Facility
Our Pilot Facility project roadmap includes:
Research in the fields of natural and physical sciences (biodiversity study, bioprospecting, CDR laboratory, model and pilot experiments etc.);
Deployment of a Marine R&D center, and 30Ha aquaponds facility;
Adressing common gaps in CDR knowledge (LCA, MRV, Identification and study of Socio-economical and Environmental risk and benefits);
Development of global academia networking;
Market study.
Timeline and budget for Pilot Facility
Current state of project’s realization
Our Areas of Interest of 15000 ha lies in the coastal zone of the Caspian Sea (Mangystau region, Kazakhstan), where there are unique favorable conditions for CaspianCDR.
In July 2023, in accordance with the project schedule, the first phase of offshore surveys was completed.
Sea water samples were taken in the eastern part of the Middle Caspian along the route Aktau - Cape Rakushechny for physical and chemical indicators and phytoplankton biodiversity.
The area suitable for the aquaponds was investigated and identified using remote sensing and GIS.
The physicochemical parameters of seawater samples were studied.
A pure culture of diatom algae was isolated for the study of physiological features and subsequent possibility of mass cultivation under controlled conditions.
CaspianCDR has a strong potential of additional co-benefits, and directly contributes to the achievement of key sustainable development goals for the Republic of Kazakhstan:
Goal 2: The isolation of nutrients and bioactive substances from microalgae has significant potential to provide the growing population with quality protein and valuable bioactive substances. This is of particular importance in light of global climate change, which is adversely affecting traditional food production and production.
Goal 9: The widespread development of biotechnology industries and the distribution of innovative biotechnology products will have a positive impact on the economy, creating demand for additional highly skilled jobs and a market for high value-added products. Also, the development of this industry will stimulate science, commercialisation of scientific developments, and their introduction into industry.
Goal 12: Microalgae in addition to nutrients and biologically active substances when cultivated on a large scale can also provide biofuel production (bioethanol, biodiesel), clean energy through bioenergy methods (BioChar), biopolymers and degradable bioplastics, participate in removing carbon from the atmosphere and contribute to achieving carbon neutrality and negativity.
Also, as noted above, the project envisages:
Creation of a large number of jobs among the local population released from the carbon energy sector;
Improvement of environmental quality, biodiversity research and conservation;
Collaboration proposal
Caspian Environmental Consortium Ltd. invites to participate in the realization of the global climate project. The strategic partner of the Consortium receives:
- access to advanced carbon removal technology CDR (carbon dioxide removal), based on photosynthesis of marine microalgae;
- access to carbon offsets to achieve carbon neutrality (and, potentially, negativity) of the Holding.
- involvement in the global mission to improve the planet's climate situation.
- additional strengthening of business reputation in the international market through participation in a climate project of global scale;
- demonstration of consistent commitment to sustainable development goals and progressive adherence to ESG principles.
Gigaton scale
"As two reference points for relative scale: the world produces around 4 gigatons of oil per year. And depending on your assumptions, 1 gigaton of CO2 removal per year generates $1T of revenue. At the gigaton scale we would require a large, but feasible, number of algal-sequestration facilities globally. Our scalable, modular platform has no limiting factors such as chemical inputs or fresh water availability. At the gigaton-scale Brilliant Planet would start to look like an infrastructure technology provider, similar to a solar panel or wind turbine manufacturer. Whether we would only design and license or also build and operate is a question we’ll need to answer a few years down the line. Though it’s clear that we will not own all of these facilities on our own balance sheet. Once the approach is demonstrated at scale, there’s a well-established project finance and asset management ecosystem that annually moves hundreds of billions of dollars to infrastructure projects. In the medium term, we could work with specific corporate offtakers to develop facilities specifically for them. Next year we will start to build a 30-hectare demonstration facility, and then a 1,000-hectare commercial scale facility which will remove 40,000 tons of CO2 per year."
Raffael Jovine for Climate Tech VC