Manila Clam and Mediterranean Mussel Aquaculture is Sustainable and a Net Carbon Sink

Tamburini, Elena; Turolla, Edoardo; Lanzoni, Mattia; Castaldelli, Giuseppe

doi:10.2139/ssrn.4022378

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Even "dissolving in a matter of seconds" is too slow for metabolic processes. Waldron (2019) [50] has indicated that most of these debates about CO2/ HCO3 -/ H + ignore the fact that the cascade of reactions giving rise to biogenic calcification is mediated by the enzyme carbonic anhydrase [57]. This indifference occurs despite the fact that this enzyme family is figuring increasingly in civil engineering biomimetic designs using immobilized enzymes for CO2 capture for industrial carbon capture and storage (CCS) processes from flue gases, where it is called microbially induced carbonate precipitation or MICP technology [58][59][60][61][62][63].…”

Section: Calcifying Organisms Use a Highly Conserved Biomineralizatio...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A growing amount of detailed and comprehensive data bearing on 'shellfish for carbon sequestration' has appeared in recent years, though use of quantitative units was confusingly variable in the early years [50,[69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76]. The most recent of these studies make use of life cycle assessments (LCA) of mussel and clam farming in Mediterranean waters and conclude that the activity is a sustainable aquaculture practice as well as a carbon sink [57,[77][78][79][80]. Alonso et al (2021) [81] estimated that the CO2 sequestration potential of bivalve aquaculture, using the then current value of 1 metric tonne of CO2 in the carbon market, to be over 25 € per tonne fresh weight of shellfish, which would represent a value of around 125 to 175 million € yr -1 to the European Union's current bivalve aquaculture industry alone.…”

Section: Life Cycle Assessments (Lca) Of Bivalve Farmingmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

An Assessment of the Potential Value for Climate Remediation of Ocean Calcifiers in Sequestration of Atmospheric Carbon

Moore

Heilweck

Fears³

et al. 2022

Preprint

Self Cite

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Today’s marine calcifiers (coccolithophore algae, Foraminifera [protists], Mollusca, Crustacea, Anthozoa [corals], Echinodermata) remove carbon dioxide (CO 2) from the atmosphere, converting it into solid calcium carbonate (CaCO 3) which is stable for geological periods of time. These organisms could serve as a biotechnological carbon capture and storage mechanism to control climate change. Two criticisms made about this are: (i) ocean acidification has allegedly been shown to cause reduced shell formation in calcifiers; (ii) the calcification reaction that precipitates CaCO 3 crystals into the shells is alleged to return CO 2 to the atmosphere. In this review we assess the evidence concerning such criticisms and find reasons to doubt both. Experiments showing that ocean acidification is damaging to calcifiers have all used experimental pH levels that are not projected to be reached in the oceans until the next century or later; today’s oceans, despite recent changes, are alkaline in pH. Claiming precipitation of CaCO 3 during calcification as a net source of CO 2 to the atmosphere is an oversimplification of ocean chemistry that is true only in open water environments. Living calcifiers do not carry out the calcification reaction in an open water environment in equilibrium with the atmosphere. The chemistry that we know as life takes place on the surfaces of enzymatic polypeptides, within organelles that have phospholipid membranes, contained in a cell enclosed within another phospholipid bilayer membrane specifically to isolate the chemistry of life from the open water environment. Ignoring what is known about the biology, physiology, and molecular cell biology of living organisms, calcifiers of all types especially, leads to erroneous conclusions and deficient advice about the potential for calcifier biotechnology to contribute to atmosphere remediation. Net removal of CO 2 from the atmosphere by calcifiers is only achieved by the CaCO 3 stored in the shell, coccoliths, or foram tests that are left when they die. To capitalise on this requires a change in paradigm towards cultivating calcifiers for their CaCO 3 rather than their meat or other products. We conclude that the world’s aquaculture industries already operate the biotechnology that, with massive and immediate global expansion, can contribute to sustainably controlling atmospheric CO 2 levels at reasonable cost and with several positive benefits in addition to carbon sequestration.

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Section: Calcifying Organisms Use a Highly Conserved Biomineralizatio...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Life Cycle Assessments (Lca) Of Bivalve Farmingmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Assessment of the Potential Value for Climate Remediation of Ocean Calcifiers in Sequestration of Atmospheric Carbon

Moore

Heilweck

Fears³

et al. 2022

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Even "dissolving in a matter of seconds" is too slow for metabolic processes. Waldron (2019) [50] has indicated that most of these debates about CO2/ HCO3 -/ H + ignore the fact that the cascade of reactions giving rise to biogenic calcification is mediated by the enzyme carbonic anhydrase [56]. This indifference occurs despite the fact that this enzyme family is figuring increasingly in civil engineering biomimetic designs using immobilized enzymes for CO2 capture for industrial carbon capture and storage (CCS) processes from flue gases, where it is called microbially induced carbonate precipitation or MICP technology [57][58][59][60][61][62].…”

Section: Calcifying Organisms Use a Highly Conserved Biomineralizatio...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A growing amount of detailed and comprehensive data bearing on 'shellfish for carbon sequestration' has appeared in recent years, though use of quantitative units was confusingly variable in the early years [50,[68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75]. The most recent of these studies make use of life cycle assessments (LCA) of mussel and clam farming in Mediterranean waters and conclude that the activity is a sustainable aquaculture practice as well as a carbon sink [56,[76][77][78][79]. Alonso et al (2021) [80] estimated that the CO2 sequestration potential of bivalve aquaculture, using the then current value of 1 metric tonne of CO2 in the carbon market, to be over 25 € per tonne fresh weight of shellfish, which would represent a value of around 125 to 175 million € yr -1 to the European Union's current bivalve aquaculture industry alone.…”

Section: Life Cycle Assessments (Lca) Of Bivalve Farmingmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Assessment of the Potential Value for Climate Remediation of Ocean Calcifiers in Sequestration of Atmospheric Carbon

Moore

Heilweck

Fears³

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Today’s marine calcifiers (coccolithophore algae, Foraminifera [protists], Mollusca, Crustacea, Anthozoa [corals], Echinodermata) remove carbon dioxide (CO 2) from the atmosphere, converting it into solid calcium carbonate (CaCO 3) which is stable for geological periods of time. These organisms could serve as a biotechnological carbon capture and storage mechanism to control climate change. Two criticisms made about this are: (i) ocean acidification has allegedly been shown to cause reduced shell formation in calcifiers; (ii) the calcification reaction that precipitates CaCO 3 crystals into the shells is alleged to return CO 2 to the atmosphere. In this review we assess the evidence concerning such criticisms and find reasons to doubt both. Experiments showing that ocean acidification is damaging to calcifiers have all used experimental pH levels that are not projected to be reached in the oceans until the next century or later; today’s oceans, despite recent changes, are alkaline in pH. Claiming precipitation of CaCO 3 during calcification as a net source of CO 2 to the atmosphere is an oversimplification of ocean chemistry that is true only in open water environments. Living calcifiers do not carry out the calcification reaction in an open water environment in equilibrium with the atmosphere. The chemistry that we know as life takes place on the surfaces of enzymatic polypeptides, within organelles that have phospholipid membranes, contained in a cell enclosed within another phospholipid bilayer membrane specifically to isolate the chemistry of life from the open water environment. Ignoring what is known about the biology, physiology, and molecular cell biology of living organisms, calcifiers of all types especially, leads to erroneous conclusions and deficient advice about the potential for biotechnology to contribute to atmosphere remediation. We conclude that the world’s aquaculture industries already operate the biotechnology that, with massive and immediate global expansion, can contribute to sustainably controlling atmospheric CO 2 levels at reasonable cost and with several positive benefits in addition to carbon sequestration.

show abstract

Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of multi-use of marine space: A comparative analysis of offshore wind energy and mussel farming in the Belgian Continental Shelf with terrestrial alternatives

De Luca Peña,

Bas,

Dewulf

et al. 2024

Journal of Cleaner Production

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Manila Clam and Mediterranean Mussel Aquaculture is Sustainable and a Net Carbon Sink

Cited by 3 publications

References 65 publications

An Assessment of the Potential Value for Climate Remediation of Ocean Calcifiers in Sequestration of Atmospheric Carbon

An Assessment of the Potential Value for Climate Remediation of Ocean Calcifiers in Sequestration of Atmospheric Carbon

An Assessment of the Potential Value for Climate Remediation of Ocean Calcifiers in Sequestration of Atmospheric Carbon

Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of multi-use of marine space: A comparative analysis of offshore wind energy and mussel farming in the Belgian Continental Shelf with terrestrial alternatives

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