Working together
Coastal Carbon is a collaborative research project including six partners from different research institutes and universities. Coastal Carbon integrates the partners’ expertise in the fields of marine biology, geochemistry, X-Ray tomography and mechanistic modeling. This interdisciplinary approach enables us to tackle pressing research questions.
Coastal Carbon is a collaboration that receives funding from the Flemish research foundation (FWO) under project number XXX and a consortium of private companies. Prof. Filip Meysman heads Belgian’s research on coastal enhanced silicate weathering.
University of Antwerp
GeoBiology
The research from the laboratory of GeoBiology at the University of Antwerp focuses on biogeochemical cycling, and the large-scale interactions between biology, chemistry and geology. The lab was one of the first worldwide to investigate the potential of active CO2 drawdown in oceans using a mesocosm approach. Within the Coastal Carbon project, the University of Antwerp is responsible for exploitation of the mesocosm experiment in Oostende and planning and execution of field studies in beaches with natural weathering.
ECOSPHERE
The ECOSPHERE research group at the University of Antwerp combines knowledge in aquatic ecology, ecotoxicology, and ecophysiology to study the effects of natural and anthropogenic stressors on natural ecosystems for guidance in environmental management decisions. Within the Coastal Carbon project, ECOSPHERE investigates potential toxicological effects from trace metal release (mainly nickel and chromium) during olivine dissolution on marine biota. Additionally, the effects of waves and currents on olivine weathering kinetics in seawater are investigated in laboratory and flume experiments.
Ghent University
The Pore-scale Processes in Geomaterials Research group at Ghent University studies the chemical, physical and biological processes that influence structural and chemical changes in geomaterials. The group specializes in non-destructive imaging at the (sub)micron scale of the 3D structure of all kinds of materials by means of X-ray micro-CT. Within the ESW project, the group is responsible for investigating the olivine dissolution at the grain-scale.
VLIZ
The Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) promotes accumulation of marine knowledge and excellence in marine research in Flanders. The marine research areas include the ocean and seas, the coast and the tidal systems. Within the Coastal Carbon project VLIZ is responsible for maintenance of the mesocosm setup in Oostende and corresponding lab analyses of the weekly collected water samples.
Université libre de Bruxelles
The BGeosys (Biogeochemistry and Modelling of the Earth System) research group at Université Libre de Bruxelles is a multidisciplinary group with strong expertise in the statistical and process-based modeling of carbon and nutrient dynamics across a wide range of environments (e.g. sediments, soils, rivers, estuaries, ocean). They are responsible for developing mechanistic models of silicate mineral cycling in marine sediments.
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
The Ecosystem Modelling (ECOMOD) team is part of the OD Natural Environment from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. They have strong expertise in the development and use of aquatic ecosystem and biophysical modeling tools, and have a strong focus on the North Sea. Their modeling system ‘COHERENS’ will be used to run virtual field trials of application of enhanced silicate weathering in the North Sea.
Coastal Carbon is a research project, focusing on coastal enhanced silicate weathering (ESW), a negative emissions technology (NET) that uses the natural process of silicate weathering for the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere.
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