Researchers are exploring technologies that would pull carbon dioxide from the air and store it in the ocean.
That technology could be a powerful tool to address climate change, but what impact might it have on the waters around Hawaiʻi?
The Molokaʻi-based group ʻĀina Momona is exploring that question with the help of a $100,000 grant from the nonprofit Carbon180, which promotes carbon dioxide removal as a climate solution.
Carbon180 is funding organizations in Puerto Rico, Alaska, and Hawaiʻi that can lead discussions on the implications of carbon dioxide removal within their communities.
“We know that those folks who are on the front lines of climate change should be involved and have a say in how we solve climate change,” said Amanda Vieillard, Carbon180’s director of ocean policy.
Trisha Kehaulani Watson-Sproat is on the board of directors of ʻĀina Momona. She said ʻĀina Momona will use the funding to craft a community-led framework for future projects.
“Marine carbon dioxide removal that has not been really visible in Hawaiʻi yet,” Watson-Sproat said. “We felt like this was a really important opportunity to start talking about these technologies [in a way] that centers community from the very start.”
ʻĀina Momona plans to release a public survey before the end of the year. It will then use focus groups to refine that feedback.
“We hope to, at the end of this, have a very specific package that any entity coming in, regardless of the technology, can start with when they are thinking of potentially bringing this to Hawaiʻi,” Watson-Sproat said.
