The Problem with Biokinetic Sequestration

Writing in the current (6 July 2009) edition of Peak Oil Review, James W. Bunger, PhD asserts, “Peak OIl May Solve the Climate Change Problem without Regulation.”

While Dr. Bunger’s model sounds encouraging, assuming a world with less and less fossil energy at its disposal will be a peaceful one that has transitioned to more sustainable lifestyles, there is one glaring omission in his paper: ocean acidification. This is the process by which increasing amounts of carbon dioxide gradually lower the pH balance of the oceans, making it more acidic. UNESCO’s Ocean Acidification Network explains the process and its consequences thus:

When CO2 dissolves in seawater, it forms carbonic acid, which releases hydrogen ions into solution. Acidity is a measure of the hydrogen ion concentration in the water, where an increase in hydrogen leads to an increase in acidity (and a decrease in the pH scale used to quantify acidity). These hydrogen ions then combine with carbonate ions in the water to form bicarbonate. Carbonate ions are the basic building blocks for the shells of many marine organisms. Thus the formation of bicarbonate through this chemical reaction removes carbonate ions from the water, making them less available for use by organisms. The combination of increased acidity and decreased carbonate concentration has implications for many functions of marine organisms, many of which we do not yet fully understand.

Now while Dr. Bunger’s assertion that the fossil fuel depletion will naturally limit CO2 emissions sometime around the middle of the century, what happens to the oceans is unclear. Do they also stabilize or do they continue to absorb atmospheric CO2 and continue the acidification process with unknown ecological consequences to the marine ecosystem?

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