Development of a scalable measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification (MMRV) system to support marine CDR (mCDR)

Marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) is one of the most promising technologies for achieving the United Nations Paris Agreement goal of holding “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and is projected to grow into a multibillion-dollar industry by the next decade. Measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification (MMRV) systems are critical to developing trust in, and proving the efficacy, durability, value, and safety of, any mCDR technology. However, our conversations with stakeholders in the mCDR space make it clear that the lack of MMRV observing platforms and systems is a primary bottleneck to scaling and funding mCDR technologies. We are developing a cost-effective, scalable, open-source observing system optimized for mCDR MMRV applications (mOBS). This accelerator project will fast-track the development of 1) a new class of observing platforms optimized for mCDR applications, 2) the mOBS open-source ecosystem, and 3) a professional organization that will leverage the mOBS open-source ecosystem to design, build, deploy, and operate fit-for-purpose mOBS systems across a range of mCDR commercial and research sites.