ABSTRACT
Existing and proposed technologies for absorbing flue gases into seawater are reviewed. Seawater scrubbing has been employed in industrial plants to desulphurise flue gases by means of conventional absorbers for several decades. More recently, it has been suggested that flue gases may be piped directly to the sea obviating the need for an absorption tower and chimney stack. Almost complete absorption of sulphur dioxide may be achieved by bubbling flue gases into the surface ocean, while effective removal of carbon dioxide requires disposal at considerable depth. Short-circuiting the environmental cycle by direct disposal of these pollutants into the oceans is an elegant geochemical solutions to many of the problems of air pollution.