US’ new tech helps rocks absorb carbon 1,000 times faster than nature – Interesting Engineering

The new process uses common minerals in kilns to absorb CO2 quickly and efficiently.11 hours ago16 hours ago19 hours agoa day ago2 days ago2 days ago2 days ago2 days ago2 days ago2 days ago7 hours ago9 hours ago11 hours ago12 hours ago14 hours ago14 hours ago15 hours ago15 hours ago16 hours ago16 hours agoMaria MocerinoOlivine aérolie weathering naturally. WikimediaChemists at Stanford University transformed minerals in rocks to absorb carbon dioxide out of the air.Matthew Kanan, senior author of a new study, explained that while the Earth has an endless supply of minerals capable of removing CO2 from the atmosphere, they don’t react quickly enough on their own to counteract human greenhouse gas emissions.Since the 1990s, scientists have been attempting to produce this feat of chemical magic to absorb carbon dioxide effectively, the buzzword in the field as of late as environmental efforts have been at the forefront of its agenda. Other proposals, such as seeking to remove the environmental toxin by shooting diamond dust into the atmosphere, even, demonstrate a collective effort on behalf of the field to tackle this prevalent problem hanging over us. But Stanford University just made a real breakthrough by proposing the use of strikingly simple materials such as rocks. Inspired by a “centuries-old technique,” the team of Stanford chemistry professors and PhD students developed a process in a kiln or laboratory furnace, but they adjusted the method.They removed the sand and combined two minerals that, when heated, perform a feat of alchemy. They transform into two alkaline minerals that react quickly, which has been the greatest challenge to overcome, with CO2.“The process acts as a multiplier,” Kanan said in the press release. “You take one reactive mineral, calcium oxide, and a magnesium silicate that is more or less inert, and you generate two reactive minerals.”They even tested the minerals enhanced to have a higher sensitivity to CO2 at room temperature. Within two hours of exposure to CO2 and water, they underwent yet another transformation, becoming “new carbonate minerals” that had trapped all the carbon.Next, they exposed wet samples of calcium silicate and magnesium oxide to the air. This “carbonation process” might have understandably taken weeks to months, but the scientists says “it’s still thousands of times faster than natural weathering.”Kanan provided a visual of how these rocks would be used: spreading them over a large land area to collect CO2. One of the outlets they’re pursuing currently is agriculture. These minerals, processed naturally, end up in the ocean without harming the planet.Furthermore, farmers already add calcium carbonate to the soil, a process known as liming. This “product,” Stanford called it, “would eliminate the need for liming since both mineral components are alkaline.”Increasingly attractive, by releasing silicon into the soil as the mineral weathers, the plants would then benefit from the nutrients, which would make them stronger and thus capable of producing better crop yields.  Currently, Stanford researchers envision that farmers would purchase these minerals because of their beneficial effects on the soil. The carbon removal, they said, would be “a bonus,” adding an incentive other than the environment to the possibility of its widespread adoption.They can produce this effect at the industrial scale.“We envisioned a new chemistry to activate the inert silicate minerals through a simple ion-exchange reaction,” Yuxuan Chen said, lead author of the study in Nature. “We didn’t expect that it would work as well as it does.”To conclude, in the Stanford Report, “each year,” researchers explained, “more than 400 million tons of mine tailings with suitable silicates are generated worldwide, providing a potentially large source of raw material.”“It’s estimated that there are more than 100,000 gigatons of olivine and serpentine reserves on Earth, enough to permanently remove far more CO2 than humans have ever emitted.” (A gigaton equals 1 billion metric tons, or about 1.1 billion tons.) It seems like Stanford has figured out how to remove all CO2 from the atmosphere using rocks.The study was published in the journal Nature. Maria Mocerino Originally from LA, Maria Mocerino has been published in Business Insider, The Irish Examiner, The Rogue Mag, Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines, and now Interesting Engineering.Stay up-to-date on engineering, tech, space, and science news with The Blueprint.By clicking sign up, you confirm that you accept this site’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy19 hours ago19 hours ago21 hours ago21 hours agoPremiumIE PROFollow

Source: https://interestingengineering.com/science/rocks-absorb-carbon-faster