Introducing Microalgae Carbon Fixation and Sinking (MCFS): a new approach for controlled and scalable CDR

Natalia Belkin, Josh Steinberg, Amit Grossman, Michal Grossowicz, Sapir Markus-Alford

Achieving global climate targets requires scalable and durable carbon
dioxide removal (CDR) technologies to tackle both historical and hard-to-
abate emissions. We introduce Microalgae Carbon Fixation and Sinking
(MCFS), a marine CDR methodology designed to enhance carbon fixation
and export to the deep ocean through a controlled process. At the core of
the MCFS approach is a tailored substrate: a non-toxic organic and / or
inorganic structure containing bound stable micronutrients that promotes
local phytoplankton growth within it. It is designed for a dual-phase
lifecycle: a fixation phase, allowing a sufficiently long duration of floating
to maximize biomass accumulation (up to 30 days), followed by rapid
sinking, which minimizes remineralization in the water column (hours-
days to reach seabed). The MCFS methodology operates within a
governance framework that includes site selection of physically and
biochemically advantageous regions that ensure carbon sequestration
durability of hundreds to thousands of years. To address potential
ecological risks a threshold-based approach is adapted, consisting of
detailed activity design and pulsed deployments. Monitoring protocols are
applied before, during and after each activity. MCFS offers a controlled
and scalable pathway to harness the ocean's sequestration capacity while
maintaining the activities well within ecological safety and integrity
measures.