Development of coupled direct-air capture and accelerated carbon mineralization technology towards net-zero emissions in Atlantic Canada

基于本世纪剩余时间内一切照旧的二氧化碳排放的模拟预测，平均地表温度将升高2度或更多。这种程度的变暖将给地球的水文、生态和气候系统带来人类历史上前所未有的变化，导致许多人类居民的生活质量大幅下降。如果立即采取雄心勃勃的跨界行动，减少排放和大气中二氧化碳的浓度，就可以避免这些最严重的影响。因此，加拿大政府与世界其他国家合作，致力于实现二氧化碳净零排放。实现这一目标的一项特别有前途的技术结合了直接空气捕获和加速玄武岩碳化-二氧化碳与玄武岩反应产生碳酸盐矿物，如方解石。在过去的几十年里，加拿大利用其石油和天然气知识，在枯竭油气田和/或沉积含水层的地质碳储存方面处于世界领先地位。然而，这些地质构造需要几个世纪才能达到碳酸化所能提供的永久、不可逆的储存水平。因此，为了同时获得社会认可和实现负排放，我们必须开始接受向加拿大巨大的玄武岩储层注入二氧化碳的可能性。在拟议的项目中，我们将评估一种独特的、加拿大开发的直接空气捕获技术与位于新斯科舍省西南部的Fundy盆地北山玄武岩碳酸化相结合的潜力。我们将在相关的环境和地质条件下进行实验室实验，以建立二氧化碳-玄武岩反应模型，并结合行业合作伙伴确定的操作规范，对拟议的技术进行技术经济评估。该项目的可交付成果将作为对直接空气捕获和玄武岩碳酸化耦合过程的潜力的评估，不仅适用于加拿大，也适用于整个世界。通过这样做，该项目将使合作的加拿大研究人员和公司以及受过独特训练的学生站在全球实施这一有前途的气候变化解决方案的最前沿。

Simulations based on business-as-usual CO2 emissions over the rest of the century predict that average surface temperatures will warm by 2 degrees or more. This level of warming will yield changes to Earth's hydrologic, ecologic, and climate systems that are unprecedented in human history, leading to massive declines in the quality of life for many of its human inhabitants. The worst of these impacts may be avoided if immediate, ambitious, and transboundary actions are taken to reduce emissions and CO2 atmospheric concentrations. As such, the Canadian government, in alliance with others worldwide, has committed to achieving net zero CO2 emissions. One particularly promising technology for achieving this goal combines direct air capture with accelerated basalt carbonation-reaction of CO2 with basalt to produce carbonate minerals, like calcite. Over the past several decades, Canada has leveraged its oil and gas knowledge to become a world leader in geological carbon storage in depleted oil and gas fields and/or sedimentary aquifers. Yet, these geological formations require centuries to achieve the level of permanent, irreversible storage that carbonation can provide. Thus, to simultaneously garner social acceptance and achieve negative emissions, we must begin to embrace the possibility of injecting CO2 into Canada's vast basaltic reservoirs. In the proposed project, we will evaluate the potential for coupling a unique, Canadian-grown direct air capture technology with basalt carbonation in the North Mountain Basalt of the Fundy basin, located in southwestern Nova Scotia. We will conduct laboratory experiments under relevant environmental and geologic conditions to inform CO2-basalt reaction models, which, in tandem with operational specifications determined by industry partners, will enable technoeconomic assessments of the proposed technology. The deliverables of this project will serve as an evaluation of the potential of the coupled direct air capture and basalt carbonation process for not only Canada but the entire world. In so doing, this project will position the partnering Canadian researchers and companies and uniquely trained students at the forefront of the global implementation of this promising climate change solution.