Vesta is a public benefit corporation with the mission to responsibly develop Marine Enhanced Rock Weathering for global climate benefit.
Marine Enhanced Rock Weathering (mERW), known in academic research as Coastal Enhanced Weathering, is a negative emission technology (NET) that removes and stores CO2 on long timescales (tens to hundreds of thousands of years) (Minx et al. 2018). The process aims to accelerate the natural chemical weathering of the mineral olivine by spreading large amounts of ground olivine-containing rock onto coastlines where it can dissolve in seawater, thereby increasing the rate of CO2 absorption by the ocean (Bach et al. 2019).
When olivine dissolves in water, it drives the following reaction, which increases the ability of the ocean to uptake carbon dioxide by generating alkalinity, allowing it to absorb more CO2. This also has the potential benefit of helping address ocean acidification - a direct effect of the excess CO2 currently stored in the oceans.
This reaction is the foundation of the Long-Term Inorganic Carbon Cycle, which has been occurring for billions of years, stabilizing Earth’s atmospheric CO2 concentrations and, in turn, enabling life to thrive. In fact, carbon dioxide removal (CDR) through natural rock weathering consumes ~1 gigaton of CO2 every year (Ciais et al. 2013). Indeed, there are naturally occurring olivine beaches with diverse ecosystems like Papakōlea Beach in Hawaiʻi, where we researched the local ecology, ecotoxicology, olivine weathering rates, and secondary mineral formation.
Unfortunately, natural chemical weathering happens too slowly to balance human CO2 emissions and is already accounted for in Earth’s present-day carbon budget. Vesta is pioneering techniques to accelerate this natural process to remove at least a gigatonne of atmospheric CO2 per year on a global scale.
References
Minx, J. C., Lamb, W. F., Callaghan, M. W., Fuss, S., Hilaire, J., Creutzig, F., et al. (2018). Negative emissions — Part 1 : research landscape and synthesis. Environ. Res. Lett. 13:053001. doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/aabf9b
Bach, L. T., Gill, S. J., Rickaby, R. E. M., Gore, S. & Renforth, P. (2019) CO2 Removal With Enhanced Weathering and Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement: Potential Risks and Co-benefits for Marine Pelagic Ecosystems. Frontiers in Climate 1–21 doi:10.3389/fclim.2019.00007.
Ciais, P., Sabine, C., Bala, G., Bopp, L., Brovkin, V., Canadell, J., et al. (2013). “Carbon and other biogeochemical cycles,” in Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 465–570.
Vesta's flagship pilot project placed 7,000 cubic yards of olivine sand in the nearshore waters of Duck, North Carolina, USA, in July 2024. The project was permitted under the federal Clean Water Act and North Carolina’s Coastal Area Management Act. The 18-month review of this project included extensive scrutiny, feedback, and discussion with state and federal resources and wildlife agencies. The project requires three years of ecological monitoring, with the option for the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to approve shortening the monitoring period to two years if no impacts are identified.
Our monitoring program is being led by Hourglass Climate -- an independent research non-profit -- and supported by UNC Greensboro, UNC Wilmington, the ECU Coastal Studies Institute, and the US Army Corps (USACE) Field Research Facility (FRF) located in Duck. Monitoring results will be shared publicly, including with regulatory agencies, and published in peer-reviewed journals.
While preliminary data from ongoing monitoring are still being analyzed, Duck has been instrumental in informing us that we can remove carbon dioxide through mERW, it is measurable, and we know how to minimize its environmental impact.
In July 2022, the North Sea Beach Colony (NSBC) in Southampton, NY, became home to the world's first field pilot of mERW when it incorporated olivine sand into Phase 2 of its beach restoration project. The Town of Southampton, in collaboration with the NSBC, Vesta, and First Coastal incorporated 500 cubic yards of olivine sand into the project, comprising ~5% of the sand volume that was placed on the beach.
The pilot project at NSBC had two main goals: 1) to quantify the rate at which olivine sand dissolves and its carbon removal efficiency in a natural setting, and 2) to document any environmental impacts, positive or negative. Results from two years of monitoring can be found in our report to the state of New York here.
Overview
Olivine is one of the most abundant, naturally occurring minerals worldwide, with olivine beaches hosting diverse ecosystems in places like Hawaii and Guam. Nonetheless, it is necessary to understand any potential organismal and/or ecosystem effects resulting from the placement of large volumes of olivine along coastal zones. When olivine dissolves, it releases naturally occurring metals and bio-essential nutrients into the seawater which can temporarily elevate concentrations above background levels. Although we believe that the ecological risk of doing so is low, Vesta nonetheless takes this very seriously and is collaborating with numerous institutions to investigate the potential impacts of olivine dissolution products on organisms and ecosystems.
Ecotoxicology studies with Enthalpy Analytical
Enthalpy Analytical is a national network of multi-agency accredited laboratories (all of which are National Environmental Laboratory Program (NELAP) certified laboratories) that offers a range of environmental analyses for organizations and governmental agencies. Vesta is working with Enthalpy to study any potential toxicity effects of olivine dissolution on a range of representative organisms, from single-celled algae to marine plants to benthic invertebrates to marine vertebrates.
Coral studies
Because olivine dissolution can increase alkalinity and counter ocean acidification, it may create favorable conditions for corals. However, olivine dissolution can also release trace metals like nickel and chromium. Vesta is studying the concentrations at which these metals may impact coral physiology.
Seagrass studies with Florida International University
In collaboration with seagrass experts Dr. Justin Campbell and Dr. James Fourqurean, Vesta is researching the effects of olivine dissolution on multiple species of seagrasses.
Phytoplankton studies with University of Southern California scientists
Numbering in the trillions of cells, microalgae influence numerous global processes from the carbon cycle to marine food webs. Hence, changes in their bio-ecology can have cascading ecosystem effects. In collaboration with researchers at the University of Southern California, Vesta grew several globally important phytoplankton functional groups under elevated concentrations of olivine dissolution products. We found no evidence of toxic effects for the 6 species of phytoplankton, which are representative of other phytoplankton groups worldwide. These results indicate that olivine dissolution products are unlikely to cause negative effects for marine phytoplankton, even at high concentrations. See the preprint here.
Hawaii - Papakōlea Beach
Papakōlea Beach is a naturally occurring olivine beach located on the South Point of the Big Island of Hawai’i and represents a type of endmember case following natural, large-scale olivine weathering. Near Papakōlea are adjacent black and white sand beaches generally devoid of olivine which experience similar sea-state and oceanographic conditions. These beaches offer a critical opportunity to perform comparative studies between Papakōlea and non-olivine beaches. In collaboration with researchers at the University of Hawai’i, Vesta plans to analyze samples of marine algae and small invertebrates from Papakōlea and surrounding beaches to assess possible ecotoxicological effects from Papakōlea.
Vesta’s Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) approach to olivine-based mERW is essential to our efforts to scale responsibly. Vesta has partnered with Absolute Climate (AC) to develop a methodology that combines real-world field measurements with controlled laboratory experiments to ensure precise and accurate data. This robust dataset is then used to model the removal of carbon dioxide and its subsequent drawdown from the atmosphere.
In the laboratory, we utilize Advanced Sediment Mesocosms to evaluate the dissolution of olivine and its carbon removal efficiency when combined with native sand from potential deployment locations. Monitoring olivine in a controlled environment is then combined with ground-truthing field measurements to establish an accurate picture of geochemical change.
The corrected data from these measurements are used to create a curve that relates olivine content to carbon fluxes, which can be coupled with ocean models to simulate air-sea CO2 equilibration. Since direct detection of the minerals becomes challenging over time, Vesta also uses validated long-term models to predict future dissolution and carbon removal rates over decades.
Community participation
At all potential deployment sites, we engage with local communities, scientists, NGOs, government officials, and various other stakeholders to build relationships and listen to diverse perspectives throughout our process. We routinely involve community personnel in the implementation of mERW.
We have also supported an ongoing social science research project led by Dr. Eric Wade at North Carolina State University to assess community attitudes towards carbon dioxide removal techniques in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Dominican Republic
In the Dominican Republic, Vesta developed a inclusive, participatory approach to partner with national stakeholders and communities through active involvement and participation. Our participatory governance framework proactively integrated multiple stakeholders perspectives on climate change and Vesta’s research activities, while also building trust, encouraging discourse, and ensuring that community members could make informed decisions and voice opinions about the project.
Mapping key stakeholders, understanding the local socioeconomics, and deeply learning about knowledge and attitudes toward Vesta and the climate emergency are important for developing an engagement approach that accounts for community-specific needs and interest.
This framework has been developed in collaboration with researchers Dr. Harry Hilsner from the University of Exeter and Dr. Emily Cox from Cardiff University.
After over 2 years of foundational research, Project Vesta is preparing for its first field pilots. Our pilots aim to address the urgent call in The National Academy of Sciences Report for field pilots of Coastal Carbon Capture. Three major pillars form each field pilot.
A. Stakeholder engagement
Project Vesta works with local communities in both public and private sectors to inform, plan, and design field pilots. Our participatory governance integrates input from local and regional stakeholders into the implementation and permitting of Coastal Carbon Capture.
B. Environmental Impact Assessment
Project Vesta conducts extensive ecosystem monitoring before and after olivine placement including ecological and ecotoxicological assessments of local fauna.
C. Quantification of CO2 removal
Project Vesta assesses CO2 removal through numerous approaches including monitoring changes in carbonate chemistry, alkalinity, secondary minerals, nutrients, sediment transport, and other biogeochemical and physical parameters.
Project Vesta is conducting a small field pilot of Coastal Carbon Capture™ (CCC) in collaboration with a private community in the Town of Southampton (NY) and First Coastal. Following extensive stakeholder engagement and months of planning and design, The Town’s North Sea Beach Colony - Beach Erosion Control District (NSBC-BECD) – has been awarded a NYSDEC permit as well as a NYS Coastal Management concurrence to add 500 cubic yards of olivine sand to their larger beach nourishment project consisting of 15,000 cubic yards of fill material. Beach nourishment is a method for providing critical flood and erosion protection and has been used widely throughout the United States and the world for over a century.
The main objectives of this project are to 1) measure olivine dissolution, 2) quantify CO2 removal, and 3) determine any positive or negative impacts on the local ecosystem. Our monitoring program will characterize seawater and porewater geochemistry through both in-situ sensor arrays and sample analysis. Key parameters include the dissolved carbonate system, major cations, and trace metals. Seawater measurements will be made available to the public though AquaLink. Sediment cores will be analyzed for mineralogy and other sedimentological factors. Microbial, ecological, and ecotoxicological analyses will be conducted to monitor species abundance, distribution, and biogenic trace metal content.
This site will be one of Project Vesta’s first demonstration pilots of Coastal Carbon Capture™ and serves as an important part of its overall research program. It will generate critical data concerning the safety and effectiveness of this solution. This pilot also supports the State of New York’s Carbon Dioxide Removal Leadership Act toward its ultimate goal to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions.
