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CO₂ will react with certain minerals (like Olivine) over time. Also, when CO₂ is dissolved in the ocean, it will form an acid that reacts with lime. So there wi
by corty 5y ago
CO₂ will react with certain minerals (like Olivine) over time. Also, when CO₂ is dissolved in the ocean, it will form an acid that reacts with lime. So there will be an equilibrium again, but it will take quite some time.
However, especially Olivine is also thought to be useful for the same reason as above, to be used in climate control efforts: Just mine it, crush it and spread it over a large area to cheaply capture more CO₂ more quickly, and bring that equilibrium lower and sooner: https://climatecleanup.org/olivine/ https://climatecleanup.org/olivine/
- AnimalMuppet 5y agoYes, but... Under current circumstances, mining, crushing, and spreading over a large area all take power, which comes from fossil fuel. Can this (olivine) be done in a carbon-negative way, with all elements of the process accounted for?
- corty 5y agoWell, of course it can. You just crush a little extra for the fuel you burnt. And an astonishing lot of mining equipment is electric anyways, so just buy "green electricity" and all is good. Just as a comparison, we do mine, crush and spread mineral-based fertilizer as a normal part of agriculture. That is of course part of the large carbon footprint of agriculture, but not a big one. So this should be doable. The question I'm rather sceptical about is the areas where one might spread the olivine. How much land it would take, and what the conditions must be. It would be nice if one could just use that olivine instead of gravel in all the parks and on footpaths and stuff.