RECAP
PTDC/CTA-CLI/1065/2021
REduce atmospheric Carbon by Alkalinity enhancement in intertidal environments: Potential and impacts
The RECAP project intends to assess the potential benefits and risks associated with increasing alkalinity in intertidal environments, to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere to combat global warming and associated environmental changes. This will be achieved by implementing an in-situ experiment, monitored continuously for 2 years, in the Ria Formosa Coastal Lagoon, in southern Portugal, using minerals rich in olivine and basalt with different grain-sizes. Monthly, water samples (supernatant and interstitial) will be analyzed for: temperature, salinity, oxygen, pH, total alkalinity, trace metals and nutrients. Quarterly, surface sediment samples will be analyzed for biodiversity composition including macrofauna, meiofauna, microfauna (benthic foraminifera), diatoms and bacteria, every three months. Statistical analyses and integration of these data will allow: 1) to constrain the effects and environmental impacts of each treatment during two seasonal cycles; 2) to depict changes between treatments and the natural environment and reveal the response of the biological community; 3) to assess the alkalinity enhancement, the metal and nutrient release for each treatment; 4) to constrain the covariation between weathering rates and climatic conditions; 5) to assess positive and negative feedbacks, in particular, the response pattern of each organism group; and 6) to identify the treatment with highest efficiency and estimate the potential sequestration of atmospheric CO2 for the entire saltmarsh area of Ria Formosa.
To obtain strategic knowledge on the potential benefits and risks of alkalinity enhancement in intertidal environments, for future implementation of upscaling scenarios for decarbonization, contributing to define measures for mitigating climate change.
Mendes, I., Lübbers, J., Schönfeld, J., Cravo, A., 2024. Bacterial response to alkalinity enhancement in intertidal environments: results of one-year field experiment, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 15–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-11672, POSTER https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-11672EGU23-7254
Lübbers, J., Mendes, I., Cravo, A., Schönfeld, J., Grasse, P., 2023. Monitoring alkalinity enhancement in intertidal environments – A Field study. GeoBerlin 2023, Geosciences Beyond Boundaries - Research, Society, Future, 3-7 September, Berlin, Germany. POSTER
Mendes, I., Lübbers, J., Cravo, A., Schönfeld, J., Correia, C., Grasse, P., Carrasco, A.R., Gomes, A., 2023. Can alkalinity enhancement in intertidal environments contribute to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide? XI Congresso Nacional de Geologia 2023, 17-19 July, Coimbra, Portugal. Book of Proceedings. 775-776 p. ORAL
Mendes, I., Lübbers, J., Cravo, A., Schönfeld, J., Correia, C., Grasse, P., Carrasco, A. R., Gomes, A., 2023. Alkalinity enhancement in intertidal environments: a tool to mitigate climate change? The International Congress on Engineering and Sustainability in the XXI century – INCREaSE 2023, 5-7 July, Faro, Portugal. POSTER.
Mendes, I., Lübbers, J., Cravo, A., Schönfeld, J., Correia, C., Grasse, P., Carrasco, A. R., Gomes, A., 2023. Alkalinity enhancement in intertidal environments: preliminary results of a field experiment, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-7254. ORAL https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-7254
