Statement on High-Quality Carbon Removal Credits

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The world faces two unprecedented challenges: stopping reliance on fossil fuels and removing legacy carbon emissions.

Yet, even if we stop all emissions today, the world will exceed the 1.5 degree warming threshold outline by the United Nations. This is due to the carbon already in our atmosphere. Carbon removal (CDR) - alongside rapid emissions reductions - is necessary.

To date, dozens of companies are working on different CDR approaches with varying cost and quality targets. In order to build a successful CDR industry, we must build a successful, verifiable carbon market. 

At the heart of this challenge is producing low-cost, high-quality carbon credits. Equatic’s approach is distinct, addressing both future and legacy carbon simultaneously by removing carbon dioxide (CDR) and producing green hydrogen, a clean fuel, using a single, ocean-based process.

By design, it features a closed system with direct measurement of the quantity of CDR and easy-to-identify system inputs. When combined with the vastness of the ocean, this multi-product approach enables unprecedented scale and certainty for the permanent removal of atmospheric carbon at accessible cost — bringing real decarbonization within reach.

How Equatic commits to producing high-quality CDR credits

1. MRV First 

Equatic has built MRV into our CDR solution. Rather than relying on the open ocean, the Equatic process is intentionally designed and engineered to measure CDR within a closed system. The system uses online and on-stream sensors to measure the chemical composition of the seawater inflow, the processed water flows, the retained solids, and the atmospheric air. This ensures Equatic has a precise and accurate measurement of CO₂ drawdown.

These direct, in-plant measurements of the rate and extent of CDR provide continuous, unambiguous data about operational performance. This means exact monitoring and verification of CO₂ removal is possible at any point in time, at any place in the world.

2. Functionally Permanent Carbon Storage

Equatic securely stores CO₂ in the form of solid carbonates and aqueous bicarbonate ions. The production of aqueous bicarbonates immobilizes CO₂ for more than 10,000 years, and the production of solid carbonates immobilizes CO₂ for up to billions of years. There is no risk of reversal from these immobilization pathways.

3. Robust Carbon Accounting

The carbon market is growing rapidly. As in any new industry, transparency and credibility are necessary to build trust with buyers, governments and communities. Equatic’s principles for carbon accounting and ISO-standard reporting and verification provide quality assurance for its CDR credits.

These principles include:

• Transparency: Equatic will publish the Total Carbon Removed, a registry and database of Equatic carbon credits that have been retired, and the MRV methodology.
• Conservativeness: Equatic will ensure the conservativeness of reporting with reference to the choice of approaches, assumptions, methods, parameters, data sources and key factors used in carbon accounting.
• Matching: Equatic will match CO₂ drawdown with CO₂ emissions for the reporting period.
• Consistency: Equatic will apply the same carbon accounting standards between reporting periods to ensure comparability between periods.

Put simply, Equatic will use fact-based data and not speculative estimates to generate carbon credits. An independent expert will verify that the Equatic process, as operationalized within a project boundary, conforms to the MRV methodology. 

4. Purposeful Scale-Up

Equatic operates two CDR plants in Los Angeles and Singapore today. Measurement and reporting is extensive at both of these plants. Equatic will commence scale-up to a larger, ~4,000 metric ton per year CDR plant in 2024 and is investing in MRV ahead of plant commissioning. Equatic’s accurate and precise measurement approach not only establishes high-quality CDR credits, but aligns with the need for robust environmental and regulatory reporting.

Background on the Equatic Approach

The ocean is the world’s biggest carbon sink, removing 25% of all anthropogenic CO₂ emissions annually. The dissolved CO₂ content in seawater is controlled by seawater’s pH, salinity, atmospheric partial pressure of CO₂, and temperature. Equatic makes use of these relationships, and the immense capacity of seawater to store CO₂, to ensure measurable, verifiable and permanent CDR. Equatic accomplishes this through four steps:

1. Equatic draws seawater into its closed system and passes it through an electrical current (electrolysis). This splits the seawater into hydrogen and oxygen and creates two streams; one alkaline and and the other acidic. 
2. The acidic seawater is neutralized with minerals to restore a natural pH and returned to the ocean. 
3. The alkaline seawater stores carbon as solid minerals before atmospheric air is passed through to immobilize additional CO₂ as dissolved bicarbonate ions.
4. Sequestered CO₂ is returned to the ocean. 

The process simultaneously generates hydrogen, which can be used as fuel in industrial processes or for zero-carbon transport.

The efficacy of the solution is well understood and permanence is established given the stability of bicarbonates already in the ocean. Equatic’s closed system removes common challenges with measuring and monitoring impact because the CO₂ is removed before the seawater re-enters the ocean. Equatic is distinctive because it is the only CDR company to use the ocean while accurately measuring and verifying the amount of carbon removed – down to the gram. 

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For more information, Equatic’s industry-leading MRV processes are detailed in our White Paper: Equatic's Measurement, Reporting, and Verification Methodology.

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