Iron is a tonic for climate-saving plankton

By Jim Loney and Michael Christie

MIAMI (Reuters) - From the deck of the research ship Weatherbird II, a California company hopes to prove a controversial theory that putting iron dust in the ocean can produce enough plankton to help save the Earth.

The mission of the company behind the ship, Planktos Corp., is to research whether "iron seeding," or "iron enrichment" -- dumping tons of pulverized iron ore into the ocean -- can catalyze the growth of microscopic algae that will then suck carbon out of the atmosphere.

If the research goes well, Planktos aims to make money by fertilizing the ocean, measuring the carbon its plankton forests sequester and selling carbon credits for cash on emerging world carbon markets.

Weatherbird left Florida this month on a mission that has caused consternation among scientists and environmentalists, many of whom do not think the theory has been sufficiently tested to try out on such a large scale.

Oceanographers, who unlike scientific colleagues in fields like pharmaceuticals have not been heavily exposed to business motivations, also appear uneasy about Planktos' aim of making money while fighting climate change.

But the company says it is interested in the potential greater good of iron-enrichment -- taking tons of carbon dioxide, a critical greenhouse gas blamed for global warming, out of the Earth's atmosphere, in the same way a rainforest on land works for the health of the planet.

"We might actually be able to save the planet from the ravages of fossil fuels," Planktos chief executive Russ George told Reuters.

DUST AS A VITAMIN

The theory of iron enrichment was proposed 25 years ago. Iron acts as a vitamin, oceanographers say, enabling plants to take up nutrients.

The theory was greeted as a joke. But it has gained traction since, and adherents.

The emergence of carbon markets, especially in Europe, in which polluters can offset emissions by buying carbon credits from countries or companies that plant forests, has given the proposal commercial allure.

In addition to Planktos, Silicon Valley-based company Climos intends to pursue iron enrichment.

Planktos' plans to seed a patch of ocean, 30 to 60 miles

in diameter, with 50 to 100 metric tonnes of raw iron ore in an area 200 miles west of the Galapagos Islands, one of the world's most unique ecosystems.

Weatherbird's mission, delayed for months by the late arrival of high-tech equipment, is steeped in secrecy. In a recent phone interview, George said he could not reveal details because of what he said were threats from "radical environmental groups" to halt the mission.