Vesta

Harnessing the power of the oceans: scalable climate restoration with carbon-removing sand

Bright minds:

Vesta is developing Coastal Carbon Capture as an ocean-based carbon removal method building on over 30 years of promising scientific research. Their team consists of PhD scientists, entrepreneurs, engineers, logistics experts, and an ever growing team of advisors and academic collaborators. With this interdisciplinary team, Vesta was able to make history by launching the first field trials of Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement via Coastal Carbon Capture. Dedicated to combating climate change, the Vesta team is motivated by Coastal Carbon Capture’s potential to be one of the most scalable, permanent, and additional methods towards combating climate change and ocean acidification.

With disruptive ideas:

Coastal Carbon Capture (CCC) is an inherently scalable process, with Vesta anticipating being capable of permanently removing over 1 gigatonne per year of atmospheric CO2 annually for under $50 per ton of CO2 at full scale. CCC works by adding a carbon-removing sand made of the natural mineral olivine to eroding coastal systems. By permanently removing CO2, CCC reduces the negative impacts of climate change while also de-acidifying the ocean. Coastal communities are increasingly facing sand shortages and needs for shoreline protection. Olivine sand can be used in these projects to make shoreline protection climate-friendly and carbon-removing.

To cool the planet:

The oceans are the plante’s second largest carbon sink, so they already sequester CO2, but not at the speed humanity needs. Coastal Carbon Capture works by accelerating a portion of Earth’s natural long-term carbon cycle to remove carbon over the course of decades instead of millions of years. Vesta has already begun removing carbon from the atmosphere at their first pilot sites in New York and Massachusetts, with larger field sites coming soon. Oliving removes CO2 at just under a 1:1 ratio,
meaning every 1 ton of olivine removes about 1 ton of CO2 from the atmosphere.

Why we support:

As techies say, “garbage in, garbage out.” In these complicated times, it’s critical that decision-makers, communicators, and citizens alike have access to a knowledge base with the sophistication and credibility needed to support smart, cutting-edge policies.