Description of the Company
Blusink is a company that was established in the UK in 2022. It employs ocean CDR (specifically a nature/technology hybrid). It has chosen this method as it is unique in the market, has high permanence, high durability and is very safe and stable. The company was established with a startup capital of 2.350.000 EUR.
CDR Support
The company has not received funding from public bodies but only from private investors and corporations. The company initially received a funding of 350,000 EUR from lifetime ventures. The following round of funding amounted to 2,000,000 EUR.**
CDR Market
The company does not participate in the voluntary carbon market (VCM).
CDR Regulations
The company has indicated that there is currently no methodology or protocols that exist by certifiers for its technique. It has added that it is working with them and once there is a methodology it will be able to participate in the VCM.
However, it has also indicated that there are a number of regulatory requirements with regards to working in the ocean that the company has to comply with. For instance, the company has to comply with marine licensing permits that vary by regions and legislation such as the London Protocol.
CDR Outlook
The company has highlighted that in the absence of governmental laws and verifiers or registries, CDR is unlikely to grow at a rapid scale.
In this respect, the company has cited the lack of regulation around pricing of credits, high number of low quality credits flooding the market, imbalance between the projects and verifiers and certifiers, lack of proper project financing mechanisms and businesses, lack of understanding regarding emerging solutions as the main barriers posing obstacles against the long term deployment of CDR.
According to the company, other risks and uncertainties posing obstacles against the long term deployment of CDR relate to low permanence of projects and its consequent impact upon CDR and exaggerated claims regarding the potential of CDR to grow at a certain scale.
As a result, purchasers of CDR credits become wary of this situation and choose to purchase credits for CDR methods that are of low quality. The company is of the view that regulations pertaining to pricing can be useful for tackling some of these problems.
However, the company has stressed that regulation of the VCM that factors quality into pricing, investment by governments into projects and into certification mechanisms are the main encouraging signs that can facilitate the long term deployment of CDR.
CDR and Society
The company strives to ensure that local communities can take part in all of its activities and shares profits with local communities that provide access to their land. In addition, it engages in consultations prior to project feasibility and includes ocean education and access programmes as part of its work.
The company has provided the following description regarding its programmes:
The company tailors programmes specific to the region. For instance, in some areas it has donated diving equipment to a local library to allow locals to dive and engage in eco-tourism. It employs local people for monitoring and data collection. It runs workshops for local communities on the value of the ocean and how they can support it. It supports broader ocean education programs. The company is also sponsoring the public and youth event at the Australian Marine Sciences Association Conference later this year. In addition, it holds information sessions at schools near its project sites, such as GreenSchool in Indonesia. The company also has setup local manufacturing and training courses in some regions.