An opportunity to study Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement, CDR, and ecosystem impacts through coastal liming

PI: Jaime Palter, University of Rhode Island
Start Year: 2023 | Duration: 3 years
Partners: NOAA, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), University of Rhode Island, University of Connecticut, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Weekapaug Golf Course 

Project Abstract:

Dr. Jaime Palter of the University of Rhode Island says “a golf course’s routine lawn care includes the spreading of large quantities of limestone – nearly 20 tons for 9 holes. With that fact in mind, we realized that using a golf course’s lime deployment as our release experiment could provide an ideal, permit-free opportunity to study the effect of coastal alkalinity enhancement.” This project takes advantage of a routine lawn care technique of golf course liming. The team will monitor the carbon chemistry of a small coastal lagoon before and after the application of the limestone on a nearby golf course. The team will measure dissolved inorganic carbon, or the total amount of inorganic carbon in the water using sensors continuously measuring water properties and in weekly field sampling. They will also measure total alkalinity, the water’s buffering capacity that may increase with liming and enhance the lagoon’s ability to take in carbon dioxide. These essential observations help track the sources and sinks of carbon in a system. More specifically, they will allow the team to calculate the balance of dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity in the lagoon to understand if the lagoon can further absorb carbon after the liming process. The research will also study the impact on the ecosystem and mitigation of local ocean acidification on clams. Finally, the project employs modeling simulations to understand the fate of alkalinity and dissolved inorganic carbon as it leaves the coastal zone, estimate the carbon dioxide removal achieved through observed lime application, and explore the scalability of terrestrial liming along the U.S. east coast.