ACTIVE PROJECTS
GEOLOGIC HYDROGEN
CARBONATE STATE SPACE
Hydrogen is produced naturally when water reacts with specific rocks under specific conditions in the earth's crust. Emerging fuel-cell technology can use this hydrogen to generate significant energy.
39 Alpha is conducting large-scale chemical speciation models to discover optimal conditions for generating hydrogen within the Earth.
This may allow future generations to employ a molecular fuel that produces water as a bi-product, and not carbon dioxide or methane. This ongoing work is supported by the Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).
ORIGINAL WORK
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CONTEXTUAL PIECIES
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GEOLOGIC HYDROGEN
CONTEXTUAL PIECIES
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Microorganisms in the surface oceans of Earth absorb 23–32% of anthropogenic CO2 annually.
A large fraction of these organisms also produce calcium carbonate shells (CaCO3) from dissolved carbon. When these organisms die a fraction of them sink into deep water, sequestering their carbon cargo away from the atmosphere in a process known as the carbonate pump.
The image on the right shows a photosynthetic bloom ~385 km (240 miles) wide, in the Pacific Ocean (light green-blue streaks).How does increasing atmospheric CO2 effect the biological carbonate pump?
How will CO2 feedback from the ocean system change as the carbonate pump slows under continued acidification?