Bay CO₂ sequestration plan is really all about the profits
✒ PLANETARY Technologies (PT) hope to prove that by adding magnesium hydroxide to treated wastewater they can change the chemistry of the sea, the theory being that it will absorb more CO2.
They plan, in conjunction with South West Water (no slouches when it comes to unconcern over large-scale pollution of rivers and seas or even our own water supplies, if it comes to that) to try this in the beautiful and almost pristine St Ives Bay.
Is this an atmospheric CO2 removal scheme aiding the noble fight against climate change? It sounds like it, but PT and SWW are businesses, in it for the profit: so how will they make money from this scheme? They aim to make profits for their shareholders by selling carbon credits, currently trading in the UK at about £35 a tonne. Who are the buyers for their assumed carbon reduction as a result of polluting St Ives Bay? Well, it could be anyone: businesses that want to do the right thing or, most likely, billionaires or jet-setting mega-pop stars who produce thousands more tonnes of CO2 a year by their activities than ordinary people. This scheme is not about helping the environment or us; it’s about making a profit out of containing and mitigating the consequences of the lifestyles of the super-rich who don’t want to change their planet-endangering behaviour.
What do the people of St Ives get out of having their environment changed? Nothing, as far as one can see! The people of west Cornwall and St Ives Bay will bear the risk as a resource is exploited for the benefit of a few super-rich who have probably never even heard of the place.
“Oh, but it’s only a trial”, say PT and SWW. Then, after the trial is complete, no doubt SWW and PT will be lobbying for their licence to be made permanent and by then it will be too late.
There are many more natural ways of reducing atmos
❝❝ Who are the buyers for their assumed carbon reduction as a result of polluting St Ives Bay?
pheric CO2 than this scheme. Sea grass meadow restoration is one, but currently these meadows are being wiped out by the scourge of bottom trawling, the marine equivalent of open-cast mining which, sadly, is still allowed even in our so-called Marine Protected Areas. There have been two attempts to limit this practice in our MPAs, sadly unsupported by the Government. Restoration of sea grass meadows encourages the return of nature and is the biggest absorber of oceanic dissolved CO2, as well as its other environmental benefits. Sea grass restoration could be done for the benefit of entire communities and for a lot less money, benefitting us all rather than offshore shareholders of a couple of businesses who only see the bottom line.
Paul Whiteley Bittaford, Devon