Can the ocean cash the check?
Marine carbon-removal viability & real deployments · Steps Ventures research
Heatmap layer
Method family
Air-sea coupling
Where can the ocean cash the check?

Almost every marine carbon-removal method only removes atmospheric CO₂ when the ocean draws it out of the air — a flux that takes months to a year and varies enormously by location. This map shows where that actually happens.

  • Efficiency — the fraction of added alkalinity that becomes realized atmospheric removal (green = fast/high, red = slow). Toggle 1 / 5 / 10-year horizons.
  • Submeso-corrected — efficiency after the subduction penalty at deep-mixed-layer fronts the coarse atlas misses.
  • Verifiable-realization potential — where the removal cashes and can be measured in place (retention × carbonate capacity).
  • National EEZ efficiency — mean efficiency inside each nation's waters.
  • Deployments — real companies, colored by method; filter by family or by whether they're air-sea gated vs physics-exempt. Click any for detail.

Search a company, a coastline, or coordinates. Click anywhere on the ocean for a local efficiency readout. A first-order research screen, not bankable diligence.

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