Researchers in Ocean and Earth Science at the University have been awarded funding to develop innovative methods for capturing Carbon Dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere in an effort to counteract global warming and climate change. This award is part of an £8.6m UK research programme on Greenhouse Gas Removal.
Large-scale removal of greenhouse gases, alongside a drastic reduction in emissions will be essential to ensure that global temperature rises by less than an additional 2°C by the end of this century, as proposed by the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Professor Rachael James, Dr Juerg Matter, Dr Phyllis Lam and Professor Damon Teagle are part of a successful consortium led by Oxford University together with the Universities of Cambridge and Cardiff. The Southampton research team will investigate whether waste mine material from metal and diamond extraction can be harnessed to remove greenhouse gases.
Professor James explained:
Mining produces huge amounts of freshly ground waste rock, but these waste rocks contain high concentrations of elements such as calcium and magnesium that, if dissolved, can capture CO2. On geological time scales, this is the natural process of chemical weathering that the Earth uses to regulate CO2 in the atmosphere and maintain our planet’s habitability.
The question is, can we use mine waste to accelerate carbon dioxide uptake? We will investigate the availability of suitable materials and mechanisms to speed up their chemical breakdown. The key will be to develop processes that can be up-scaled to make a difference. This requires capturing multi-gigatonnes of CO2.
More information about this project can be found here.
