The impact of large-scale macroalgae cultivation and harvesting strategies on the marine carbon dioxide removal efficacy and marine biogeochemistry

The large-scale cultivation of macroalgae has been proposed as a marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) strategy, yet its efficiency and consequences for ocean biogeochemistry remain uncertain. Using a new macroalgae aquaculture module within an ocean biogeochemistry model, NEMO-MEDUSA, we investigate carbon removal potential and biogeochemical feedbacks under hypothetical global-scale macroalgae cultivation with varying harvest strategies, loss rates, and iron availability. Overall cultivation enhances air–sea CO2 uptake by 11.0 Pg C yr−1, but only ∼ 27 % of macroalgal production results in additional CO2 uptake. Furthermore, phytoplankton and zooplankton biomass is suppressed by almost 50 % and is geographically displaced by significant surface nutrient changes. Sinking of harvested biomass increases oxygen demand during remineralisation, leading to widespread oxygen depletion and the emergence of suboxic conditions at the seafloor in deposition regions. When macroalgal growth is not supplemented with iron micronutrient, its production declines sharply (−74 %), revealing a significant limitation for large-scale feasibility. Collectively, our results reveal that large-scale macroalgal cultivation offers low mCDR potential, that it is both spatially extensive and locally intensive, and its unintended biogeochemical consequences can be substantial. Our findings highlight the urgent need to assess nutrient constraints and ecological trade-offs before considering this method as a viable large-scale mCDR strategy.