Carbon capture and sequestration in underground reservoirs isn’t the most practical or cost effective way to reduce atmospheric CO2 levels. It would be much simpler if CO2 could be quickly and cheaply converted into a harmless, solid mineral before it is released into the atmosphere. A team from the U.K.’s Newcastle University may have stumbled across a way to achieve this thanks to the humble sea urchin.
As part of their research into what happens when CO2 reacts with water – known as the carbonic acid reaction – the researchers were looking for a catalyst to speed up the process. By chance, Dr Lidija Šiller, a physicist and Reader in Nanoscale Technology at Newcastle University, was looking at the way in which organisms absorb CO2 into their skeletons at the same time.
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