Capturing GGR
Top 7 photographs from the ‘Visions for GGR’ competition
Participants were invited to submit photographs that compellingly capture one or more GGR methods or technologies as they exist or are being developed in our natural or built environment in the present day.
You can view the top 7 entries shortlisted by our jury* and read photographers’ statements below. Hover on the image for the photographer’s name and click on it if you would like to contact them to find out more about usage rights or purchase.
Voting closed on 20 June 2024.
Harn Wei Kua, Abhimanyu Goel, Huang Lei
Biochar: Halo and Bubble of Life
The team who submitted this photograph are developing a new kind of material consisting of biochar made from recycled wood and limestone calcined clay cement (LC3), which is capable of capturing CO2 in seawater and freshwater, thus creating a “CO2 halo” around itself. This picture shows a cube that was creatively 3D-printed with such a material into a Voronoi structure and it is now being tested as an aquatic plant nursery. In essence, it aims to utilize captured greenhouse gases to promote marine biodiversity.
The actual water bubbles represent the creation of this “CO2 halo”. A representation of the biochar interior of this novel material is shown as the large bubble on the top right; the pores that contribute to the CO2 capture are clearly displayed in it. Inside two of the smaller water bubbles are superimposed images of actual microscopic “folds” on the pore walls of biochar that resemble infants. They represent hope and sustainability. Embedding them into these bubbles reflects their vision and conviction that capturing greenhouse gases using this novel technique gives hope for sustainability and our next generation!
The team expresses gratitude for assistance from Aakanksha Jain and Kasparas Kua.
*Winner of the Juried Prize
Future Leaders and Carbon Catchers: A Snapshot of Progress and Play
This image was taken from a public footpath by Carbon Engineering’s Innovation Centre in Squamish. I love the juxtaposition of many themes. The stoic mountains: earth’s geology at its finest. Greenery: nature doing its part. A centre dedicated to advancing DAC with an unmistakable air contactor: engineers doing their part. And two of 2050’s leaders, one posing given the significance of the innovation and her mummy’s role, the other wondering what all the fuss is about and what her sister is doing! We do after all strive for a time when DAC projects are aplenty and we no longer pose!
– Amy Ruddock
The photographer is the girls’ mother and has given permission for use of their images.
*Runner-up of the Juried Prize
Amy Ruddock
Michael Sswat
Greening the Ocean Desert
Background
The underwater picture was taken during the field-test of a wave pump on November 18th 2022, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean – 150 nautical miles south of the Canary Islands, with a full-frame digital single-lens reflex camera in an underwater-housing without external light source and edited in Adobe Lightroom.
The wave-pump was tested for artificial upwelling within the framework of the research project “Test-ArtUp – Road-testing artificial upwelling” belonging to the research mission “CDRmare”, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the German Alliance Marine Research (DAM). The wave pump was provided by the company Ocean-based Climate Solutions (OBCS) and deployed by the Spanish research vessel “RV Sarmiento de Gamboa” during a cruise by the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC). The diving and close-up monitoring took place from board of the sailing yacht ‘Pandora V’.
In the image
The diver monitors a wave-pump during the first field-test for artificial upwelling in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Wave pumps upwell nutrient-rich cold deepwater into the nutrient-poor surface layer. The deepwater may thus have a cooling effect and the nutrients may stimulate the growth of algae. The algae store carbon in their biomass, which is then channeled into the food web and sequestered in the deep ocean when sinking to depth.
The water from the pump was colored with a non-toxic dye to follow the mixing of the water masses and thus determine the efficiency of the wave-pump.
*Runner-up of the Popular Choice Prize
For Peat’s Sake
Taken in Lye Valley, this fen is a beautiful example of peatlands working to store carbon. The Lye Valley fens store more carbon than the same area of tropical rainforest. The wet layer of mosses and sedges absorb carbon dioxide from the air, turning into black peat as they die, locking in the carbon.
For image details, click here.
*Winner of the Popular Choice Prize
Anna Sturrock
Christopher Herbin
Mixing it up!
Nature helping the dispersion of basalt. The image shows a worm burrowing through the basalt that was applied to the field as part of the enhanced rock weathering demonstration at Rothamsted Research (Harpenden, UK). Worms and other natural burrowing wildlife are a key element in dispersing and integrating the basalt rock dust with the soil to allow for its reaction with, and capture of atmospheric CO2.
For image details, click here.
Rockdust Spreading Optimism of its Carbon Capturing Powers
This photo was taken at the Pumlumon/Plynlimon GGR-D Enhanced Rock Weathering field site in Mid Wales. The project explores the potential to accelerate CO2 sequestration in soils by adding rock dust obtained from basalt quarries. The research entails the first integrated whole system assessment of the science including environmental impacts, societal and scalability opportunities, and challenges of enhanced rock weathering application in remote and steep upland terrain.
The photographer thanks the team from UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the contractor pictured for a successful rockdust spreading campaign.
For image details, click here.
Maud van Soest
Javier Hernandez
Raining
Carbon dioxide removal as it happens. The image captures the rain over the flowering oilseed rape in the field of the GGR-ERW demonstrator at Rothamsted Research (Harpenden, UK). The rain is a key element for the ERW technology because it is the vehicle that brings atmospheric CO2 into the ground to allow the reaction with the silicate-rich basalt added to the soil.
The photographer thanks the team from UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the contractor pictured for a successful rockdust spreading campaign.
For image details, click here.
Vote here
*Note that the jury have shortlisted and awarded prizes based on an image’s potential to affect an impact, provoke critical questions, and enable engagement with GGR. Their decisions should by no means imply their, their organisation’s, or CO2RE’s endorsement of any particular GGR method, technology, or project.
