We may be able to trap climate pollution in ordinary rocks

illuminem summarizes for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on The Washington Post or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: Scientists at Stanford University have developed a process to accelerate the natural ability of rocks to absorb carbon dioxide
• By heating limestone and magnesium-rich silicate minerals, they create materials that trap CO₂ within weeks instead of millennia
• Their research, published in Nature, suggests the method could help slow or even reverse climate change

🔭 The context: Rocks naturally absorb carbon dioxide through a process called geological weathering, but it occurs too slowly to counteract human emissions
• The new technique mimics this reaction at high temperatures, allowing for rapid CO₂ capture and long-term sequestration in the ocean
• Researchers estimate that for each ton of material produced, one ton of CO₂ can be removed from the atmosphere

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Large-scale carbon removal is increasingly seen as essential to preventing dangerous levels of global warming, according to U.N. scientists
• Unlike some geoengineering methods, this process uses common minerals and could offer a scalable, low-cost solution
• If successful, it could complement emission reductions in the fight against climate change

⏭️ What's next: Researchers aim to commercialize the technology, potentially using the carbon-trapping material as a fertilizer for farmers
• Experts caution that scaling the process efficiently with impure rock sources and high energy demands remains a challenge
• Further studies and funding will be needed to test its real-world viability

💬 One quote: “We didn’t expect that it would work as well as it does.” — Yuxuan Chen, lead author of the study

📈 One stat: Lending to fossil fuel sectors fell 41% in 2023, a sign of shifting investment trends in response to climate concerns

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