{{Short description|Carbon sequestration company}}
{{Infobox organization | name = Project Vesta | formation = {{Start date and age|2019}} | purpose = Environmentalism, Environmental science | type = Public-benefit corporation | location = San Francisco, United States | leader_title = CEO | leader_name = Tom Green | key_people = {{ubl| * Kelly Erhart * Grace Andrews * Ryan Hostak }} | website = {{URL|vesta.earth}} }}
'''Vesta''' is a public benefit corporation focused on ocean-based carbon dioxide removal. It researches and performs accelerated weathering of the mineral olivine as a coastal protection strategy which helps the ocean naturally remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.<ref name=":5">{{cite news |last=Hopper |first=Nate |last2=Lokting |first2=Britta |last3=Kavin |first3=Kim |date=16 August 2022 |title=15 Young Founders Rethinking Everything From Artificial Intelligence to Carbon Removal, Sustainable Fashion to...Pizza! |work=Entrepreneur |url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/entrepreneurs/15-young-founders-rethinking-everything-from-artificial/432612 |access-date=19 October 2022 |issn=0163-3341}}</ref><ref name="temple-2020">{{Cite web |last=Temple |first=James |date=June 22, 2020 |title=A Caribbean beach could offer a crucial test in the fight to slow climate change |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/06/22/1004218/how-green-sand-could-capture-billions-of-tons-of-carbon-dioxide/ |access-date=2020-11-06 |website=MIT Technology Review}}</ref>
Vesta grinds up naturally abundant olivine into sand and places it on the seashore to help replenish beaches and reverse coastal erosion. The sand then dissolves, aided by the movement of the waves, to increase the alkalinity of the ocean which reverses the harmful effects of climate change-driven ocean acidification and helps the ocean perform its natural process of carbon sequestration permanently.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ratcliffe |first1=Verity |last2=Ma |first2=Michelle |title=How Seeding the Oceans With Minerals Could Grab Carbon From the Atmosphere |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-28/uae-could-be-ideal-place-to-test-unique-climate-change-solution?sref=VNJVUQSt |access-date=14 March 2024 |publisher=Bloomberg |date=September 28, 2023}}</ref>
Vesta's technology plans and measures the process, mapping out how fine to grind the sand, how much sand to use, where exactly to place it, and then measuring the increase in impact on ocean alkalinity over time.<ref name="temple-2020" /><ref name="peters-2020">{{Cite web |last=Peters |first=Adele |date=2020-05-29 |title=Ever been to a green sand beach? The newest geohack to fight climate change |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90510254/ever-been-to-a-green-sand-beach-the-newest-geohack-to-fight-climate-change |access-date=2020-11-06 |website=Fast Company}}</ref> It currently has a pilot project operating in Southampton, New York and an upcoming project planned in Duck, North Carolina.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Merrill |first1=Kitty |title=Dredge Spoil + Olivine = A Nourished Beach In North Sea |url=https://www.27east.com/southampton-press/dredge-spoil-olivine-a-nourished-beach-in-north-sea-1967372/ |access-date=14 March 2024 |publisher=27east.com |date=May 26, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Kozak |first1=Catharine |title=Carbon capture project proposed for ocean waters off Duck |url=https://coastalreview.org/2022/11/carbon-capture-project-proposed-for-ocean-waters-off-duck/ |access-date=14 March 2024 |publisher=Coastal Review |date=November 22, 2022}}</ref>
In the long term, Vesta's approach could cost as little as $21 and require 40 kilowatt-hours of energy to remove a ton of CO<sub>2</sub>. Vesta calculates that spreading olivine in 0.25% of the world's shelf seas could be enough to remove 1 billion tonnes of CO<sub>2</sub> from the atmosphere.<ref name=":10">{{cite news |last1=Fleming |first1=Amy |date=23 June 2021 |title=Cloud spraying and hurricane slaying: how ocean geoengineering became the frontier of the climate crisis |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/23/cloud-spraying-and-hurricane-slaying-could-geoengineering-fix-the-climate-crisis |access-date=20 October 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Ratcliffe |first1=Verity |last2=Ma |first2=Michelle |title=How Seeding the Oceans With Minerals Could Grab Carbon From the Atmosphere |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-28/uae-could-be-ideal-place-to-test-unique-climate-change-solution?sref=VNJVUQSt |access-date=14 March 2024 |publisher=Bloomberg |date=September 28, 2023}}</ref>
== History == Project Vesta originated in the climate change-focused think tank Climitigation.<ref name="peters-2020" /><ref name="delbert-2020" /> Kelly Erhart, who previously co-founded a waterless toilet company<ref name="peters-2020" /> and learned of accelerated weathering from a climate report,<ref name=":5" /> co-founded Project Vesta in 2019 as a nonprofit headquartered in San Francisco.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Purchia |first1=Robyn |date=16 July 2022 |title=Let's keep the climate restoration movement growing |work=San Francisco Examiner |url=https://www.sfexaminer.com/our_sections/forum/let-s-keep-the-climate-restoration-movement-growing/article_93c11cbc-5cb8-5df9-8bba-babce34395a7.html |access-date=21 October 2022}}</ref><ref name="delbert-2020">{{Cite web|last=Delbert|first=Caroline|date=2020-06-11|title=How This Strange Green Sand Could Reverse Climate Change|url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a32799266/green-sand-carbon-dioxide-climate-change/|access-date=2020-11-06|website=Popular Mechanics|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{cite news |last1=Palmer |first1=Phillip |title=Cutting-edge technology battles climate change by using sand to pull carbon dioxide from atmosphere |url=https://abc7.com/climate-change-sand-carbon-dioxide/11143786/ |access-date=19 October 2022 |work=ABC7 San Francisco |date=20 October 2021}}</ref> Studies had been conducted in laboratory experiments on the process, but no beach experiments had been conducted prior.<ref name=":5" /><ref name="peters-2020" /> The organization later changed from a non-profit to public benefit corporation, and then rebranded to Vesta in 2022.<ref name=":9">{{cite news |last1=Temple |first1=James |date=30 March 2022 |title=Why using the oceans to suck up CO<sub>2</sub> might not be as easy as hoped. |work=MIT Technology Review |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/03/30/1048434/why-using-the-oceans-to-suck-up-co2-might-not-be-as-easy-as-hoped/ |access-date=20 October 2022}}</ref>
The payment processor Stripe pre-paid 3,333 tons worth of carbon sequestration from the company at $75 per ton.<ref name="temple-2020" /><ref name="peters-2020" />
In 2022, Vesta was featured in a documentary called Solving for Zero where Bill Gates appeared with five scientists and change makers focused on climate change solutions and research.<ref>{{cite web |title=Solving for Zero |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16291176/ |website=IMDB |access-date=14 March 2024}}</ref>
In 2022, the town of Southampton, New York, in collaboration with Stony Brook University, and Cornell University's Cooperative Extension, and Project Vesta, began a pilot project to place 500 cubic yards of olivine on a Southampton beach that has been eroding as sea levels rise.<ref name=":6">{{cite news |last1=Merrill |first1=Kitty |title=Dredge Spoil + Olivine = A Nourished Beach In North Sea |url=https://www.27east.com/southampton-press/dredge-spoil-olivine-a-nourished-beach-in-north-sea-1967372/ |access-date=19 October 2022 |work=27East.com |publisher=Southampton Press |date=26 May 2022}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{cite news |last1=Agard |first1=Sade |title=The mineral that could remove 1 billion tonnes of CO<sub>2</sub> from the atmosphere and protect shorelines and oceans too- but will it go to scale? Interesting Engineering |url=https://interestingengineering.com/science/olivine-could-remove-co2-from-atmosphere |access-date=20 October 2022 |work=Interesting Engineering |publisher=Interestingengineering.com |date=26 August 2022}}</ref> As part of the pilot and other experiments, the company monitored whether their approach releases concentrations of toxins from the olivine.<ref name="peters-2020"/>
In May of 2022, Vesta published its first paper on community engagement, detailing its implementation of deliberative, inclusive, and localized approaches to developing more ethical CDR solutions aligned with climate justice principles.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hilser |first1=Harry |last2=Cox |first2=Emily |last3=Draiby |first3=Andrea |last4=Moreau |first4=Cheyenne |last5=Hiraldo |first5=Lia |last6=Walworth |first6=Nathan |last7=Winks |first7=Lewis |title=Localized governance of carbon dioxide removal in Small Island Developing States |journal=SSRN |date=May 22, 2022 |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4114319 |access-date=14 March 2024}}</ref>
==Process== Vesta is testing whether the olivine weathering process will mitigate coastal recession<ref name=":6">{{cite news |last1=Merrill |first1=Kitty |title=Dredge Spoil + Olivine = A Nourished Beach In North Sea |url=https://www.27east.com/southampton-press/dredge-spoil-olivine-a-nourished-beach-in-north-sea-1967372/ |access-date=19 October 2022 |work=27East.com |publisher=Southampton Press |date=26 May 2022}}</ref> and reduce ocean acidification.<ref name="peters-2020"/><ref name="temple-2020"/><ref name=":13">{{cite news |last1=Yeung |first1=Peter |title=Could crushed rocks absorb enough carbon to curb global warming? A little-examined form of geoengineering takes what rocks normally do—lock up carbon—and spreads it through the oceans. |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/could-crushed-rocks-absorb-enough-carbon-to-curb-global-warming |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221173909/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/could-crushed-rocks-absorb-enough-carbon-to-curb-global-warming |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 21, 2021 |access-date=20 October 2022 |work=National Geographic |date=21 December 2021}}</ref> Vesta's process mimics natural weathering processes to transform the olivine into silicates and other stable chemicals, like calcium carbonate which precipitate to the oceans bottoms as marine life consumes the naturally occurring chemical and die (see Carbon in the water cycle for further info).<ref name="temple-2020" /> The wave action of beaches on crushed olivine allows for more rapid weathering than other natural deposits of olivine, which only absorb limited amounts of carbon dioxide.<ref name="peters-2020" />
Since the olivine weathering process creates molecular byproducts such as calcium carbonate that could alkalinize acidifying seawater or release metals such as bioavailable nickel, the organization also researches chemical composition and toxicology of affected water and aquatic life.<ref name="peters-2020"/><ref name=":9"/> Project Vesta publishes their scientific findings and as of May 2020 made their methods open source.<ref name="delbert-2020">{{Cite web|last=Delbert|first=Caroline|date=2020-06-11|title=How This Strange Green Sand Could Reverse Climate Change|url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a32799266/green-sand-carbon-dioxide-climate-change/|access-date=2020-11-06|website=Popular Mechanics|language=en-US}}</ref> == References == {{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{Official website|https://vesta.earth}}
Category:Organizations based in San Francisco Category:Enhanced weathering Category:2019 establishments in California