Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Monday August 20 2018, @10:07AM   Printer-friendly
from the sequestration++ dept.

This Lab-Made Mineral Just Became a Key Candidate For Reducing CO2 in The Atmosphere

Scientists just worked out a way of rapidly producing a mineral capable of storing carbon dioxide (CO2) - giving us a potentially exciting option for dealing with our increasingly overcooked planet. Magnesite, which is a type of magnesium carbonate, forms when magnesium combines with carbonic acid - CO2 dissolved in water. If we can produce this mineral at a massive scale, it could safely store large amounts of carbon dioxide we simply don't need in our planet's atmosphere.

[...] Being able to make the mineral in the lab could be a major step forward in terms of how effective carbon sequestration might eventually be. "Using microspheres means that we were able to speed up magnesite formation by orders of magnitude," says [Ian] Power. "This process takes place at room temperature, meaning that magnesite production is extremely energy efficient."

[...] With a tonne of naturally-occurring magnesite able to capture around half a tonne of CO2, we're going to need a lot of magnesite, and somewhere to put it all as well. As with other carbon capture processes, it's not yet clear whether this will successfully scale up as much as it needs to. That said, these new discoveries mean lab-made magnesite could one day be helpful – it puts the mineral on the table as an option for further investigation.

Abstract.

Related: Negative Emission Strategy: Active Carbon Capture
Carbon Capture From Air Closer to Commercial Viability


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 20 2018, @11:50PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 20 2018, @11:50PM (#723967)

    Magnesite, which is a type of magnesium carbonate, forms when magnesium combines with carbonic acid - CO2 dissolved in water. If we can produce this mineral at a massive scale, it could safely store large amounts of carbon dioxide we simply don't need in our planet's atmosphere.

    This is an awful idea. There are already serious magnesium deficiencies in the soil of many countries[1]. We do not want to sequester magnesium, it is making people sick and stupid... I swear these "climate engineering" ideas are straight out of idiocracy. Its like they cant consider more than one thing at a time.

    [1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221451411500121X [sciencedirect.com]