Speaker
Description
Mineral carbonation strategies represent one of the main mitigation options to limit CO2 emissions in the atmosphere, reduce the carbon footprint of various industrial processes, and help counteract the effects of the ongoing climate crisis. Carbon mineralization allows for the fixation of CO2 into carbonate minerals within geological formations or its conversion into valuable products as part of low-carbon productive cycles and efforts to promote more sustainable industrial operations. The development of effective mineral storage methods is supported by the study of natural analogues but requires accurate determination of thermodynamic and kinetic parameters to enhance the performance of the geochemical processes that control both the in-situ and ex-situ CO2 sequestration capacity. We will show how our recent research activity and experimental approach helped quantifying the rates of relevant geochemical reactions, identifying optimum conditions for the deployment of CO2 sequestration methods within geological formations and providing chemical-isotopic tools to monitor the temporal and spatial progress of the carbonation reactions. Drawing on in-depth knowledge of natural processes, current research work is also aimed at optimizing accelerated CO2 mineralization reactions of various waste materials to generate carbonated products capable of permanently storing CO2, while ensuring environmentally friendly and energy-efficient processes. The obtained know-how will be transferred to developing cost-effective methods to convert waste materials into a variety of C-rich end-products that are of economic interest for a wide range of applications.