Plans by an Australian company to sink hundreds of tonnes of urea into the ocean to combat climate change may backfire and exacerbate global warming, critics say.
Moves to fertilise the ocean with nutrients to boost CO2-consuming phytoplankton and fish stocks has prompted calls for international controls on such experiments
Sydney-based company
Ocean Nourishment Corporation (ONC) is looking at using nitrogen-rich urea to boost the growth of CO2-absorbing phytoplankton.
The idea, says the company, is for this form of carbon sequestration to lock up carbon in the oceans for thousands of years.
It says that encouraging the growth of more phytoplankton could also boost fish stocks.
ONC plans to develop this method of carbon sequestration to generate valuable carbon credits.
Phytoplankton blooms, as seen here in green, can occur as a result of natural ocean upwellings
"At the end of the day we're dealing with companies that want to make money out of carbon credits," he says.
clipped from: www.abc.net.au 
