Closing Critical Knowledge Gaps in Rates of CO2 Mineralization in Soils, Rocks, and Aquifers as a Scalable Climate Change Mitigation Solution

目前，许多初创公司、大公司和政府或非政府组织赞助的研究和试点项目正在努力调查将二氧化碳转化为碳酸盐矿物（碳矿化）作为气候缓解战略的可行性。二氧化碳可以通过将矿物和岩石粉末散布到农田，森林和海洋中，将二氧化碳注入玄武岩和沉积含水层以及尾矿中来矿化。在全球范围内扩大这些选择可能每年捕获和储存数十亿吨二氧化碳。然而，正如2021年美国长期战略报告[1]所述，“......增强矿化的技术仍处于研究和开发的初期阶段，因此潜在的减排幅度和这些技术可能实现减排的时间范围尚不清楚。目前，在碳矿化率的基础科学方面存在知识空白，解决这一问题对于发现具有成本效益的基于二氧化碳-水-矿物相互作用的气候减缓方案至关重要。该研究项目通过填补多矿物系统中地球化学反应速率和机制的知识空白以及传播地球化学动力学和建模知识来满足这一迫切的社会需求。为实现这一科学目标，本项目将对破碎玄武岩进行多种同位素（Si、K、Sr、Ca、Mg、Fe、KC同位素）示踪实验，以确定矿物溶解和沉淀反应的耦合。此外，研究人员还将进行创新的地球化学模拟，使用模型集合来解释实验结果，并评估模型的不确定性。为了实现更广泛的影响目标，研究人员将利用国家计算基础设施和基于互联网的交付技术，为碳中和经济培训多样化的劳动力。将建立一个地球化学建模门户网站，提供建模工具和数据库，以及虚拟短期课程和热力学，地球化学建模和动力学的在线课程。这种开放的科学方法使地球化学科学对所有人开放，无论其社会经济地位如何，并鼓励世界所有部门和所有地区的无私合作，以实现应对全球气候变化挑战的共同目标。[1]美国政府，“美国长期战略：到2050年实现净零温室气体排放的途径”（2021年）; https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/US-Long-Term-Strategy.pdfThis奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Currently, numerous start-up companies, large corporations, and government- or non-government-organization-sponsored research and pilot projects are diligently investigating the feasibility of turning carbon dioxide into carbonate minerals (carbon mineralization) as a climate mitigation strategy. Carbon dioxide can be mineralized by spreading mineral and rock powders onto croplands, forests, and oceans, injecting carbon dioxide into basalt and sedimentary aquifers, and mine tailings. Scaling-up these options globally can potentially capture and store billions of tons of carbon dioxide per year. However, as a 2021 US long-term strategy report [1] stated, techniques of “… enhanced mineralization, are still in nascent stages of research and development, so the potential magnitude of reductions and the timeframes over which these technologies might deliver reductions is unknown.” Currently, there are knowledge gaps in the basic science of carbon mineralization rates, the resolution of which is critical to discovering cost-effective carbon-dioxide-water-mineral interaction-based climate mitigation options. This research project meets this urgent societal need by both filling the knowledge gaps in geochemical reaction rates and mechanisms in multi-mineral systems and disseminating geochemical kinetics and modeling knowledge. To acheive these science objectives, this project will carry out multiple isotope tracer (Si, K, Sr, Ca, Mg, Fe, K C isotopes) experiments for crushed basalts to determine the coupling of mineral dissolution and precipitation reactions. Additionally, the researchers will perform innovative geochemical simulations to interpret the experimental results using an ensemble of models and evaluate model uncertainties. To meet the broader impact objective, researchers will leverage the national computational infrastructure and internet-based delivery technologies for training a diverse workforce for a carbon-neutral economy. A geochemical modeling web portal will be built to deliver modeling tools and databases as well as virtual short courses and online lessons for thermodynamics, geochemical modeling, and kinetics. This open science approach makes geochemical sciences accessible to all regardless of socioeconomic status and encourages unselfish cooperation from all sectors and all parts of the world for achieving the common goal of meeting the challenges of global climate change.[1] US Government, “The Long-Term Strategy of the United States: Pathways to Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2050” (2021); https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/US-Long-Term-Strategy.pdfThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.