In this edition of Plan Sea, hosts Anna Madlener and Wil Burns are joined by Captura CEO Steve Oldham to discuss Direct Ocean Capture (DOC) technology. Captura is a Pasadena, CA-based company that is exploring the use of renewable energy to remove carbon from the ocean as a low-cost, large-scale climate solution.

DOC seeks to remove carbon from seawater in order to enhance the ocean’s natural process of removing carbon from the atmosphere – helping slow the impact of climate change. Captura  uses electrochemistry to directly capture carbon and then reintroduce the decarbonized water to the ocean,without adding any new materials to the marine environment. Oldham is a veteran in the carbon removal space, having previously served as CEO of Carbon Engineering, a direct air capture company, before joining Captura. 

In this episode, the Plan Sea hosts and Oldham discuss Captura’s unique approach, proprietary technology, and its pilot programs in Los Angeles and Hawaii. They emphasize the importance of monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) in order to better understand DOC’s efficacy and environmental safety before scaling.

To learn more about Captura’s work, listen to the full episode above, subscribe with your favorite podcast service, or find the entire series here: https://plansea.buzzsprout.com/  


Plan Sea is a semi-weekly podcast exploring ocean-based climate solutions, brought to you by the Carbon to Sea Initiative & the American University Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal.