This article analyzes and explains international leadership in the collaboration between ocean science and policy and marine carbon dioxide removal technologies. This article is based on a special lecture given by Peter B. de MENOCAL, Director of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation on April 16, 2025, providing detailed introduction to the mission and latest research trends of WHOI, the world's largest private ocean research institution.
WHOI has continued joint educational programs with MIT for 55 years, deepening understanding of fundamental ocean-related issues from both basic and applied perspectives. The institution's characteristics include a flat, collaborative organizational culture that tackles high-cost, high-risk problems with agility, and unparalleled ocean access capabilities including world-class research vessels and the manned submersible Alvin capable of diving to depths of 6,500 meters. Alvin continues to generate fundamental discoveries, including the discovery of hydrothermal vents considered one of the origins of life on Earth.
Current WHOI research areas span widely, including ocean-climate interactions, sea level rise impacts on coastal assets, next-generation energy such as offshore wind, future food security, marine mammal and coral reef conservation, and marine microplastic countermeasures. Particularly noteworthy is the "Ocean Observing Initiative" operated with approximately million in annual federal funding, where WHOI teams develop and deploy one-quarter of the approximately 4,000 Argo floats worldwide, demonstrating that oceans absorb about 93% of excess heat from atmospheric greenhouse gases.
The most important research area is marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) technology. Oceans have 50 times the carbon storage capacity of the atmosphere and absorb about one-quarter of annual anthropogenic CO2 emissions. WHOI is advancing research on "amplifying" the ocean's ability to use photosynthesis to sink additional organic carbon to the deep sea, examining both biological methods and non-biological solutions such as enhanced mineral weathering. It is estimated that oceans reduced atmospheric CO2 by 100 ppm between ice ages and interglacials, and verification is underway to determine if similar-scale methods can function safely and effectively in modern times.
As a future vision, WHOI plans to build what it calls the "Internet of the Ocean," a global-scale sensor network. This system strategically places sensors measuring carbon-related nutrients to comprehensively verify mCDR effectiveness, deep-sea storage durability, safety for ecosystems and coastal societies, and technical and economic feasibility. About million has been raised for this plan, combining a million donation from the board chair and federal funding, but it is considered a billion-dollar scale challenge requiring global cooperation.
The article concludes that while utilizing the ocean's carbon absorption capacity may become an important option for global warming countermeasures, basic science must lead to avoid unforeseen consequences from large-scale intervention, and building international partnerships and social acceptance is key to success.