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The scientists effectively reproduced millennia of natural carbon capture in a single experiment.
By Shula Rosen
Israeli scientists have demonstrated a laboratory method that speeds up the geological carbon-removal process, which normally unfolds over thousands of years, into a matter of hours, potentially offering a new tool for cutting industrial carbon dioxide emissions.
The findings, published in Environmental Science & Technology, describe the process of forcing carbon dioxide and seawater through common carbonate rocks, including limestone and dolomite.
Under controlled conditions, the gas is converted into a dissolved form of carbon before it can escape back into the atmosphere, mimicking a natural mechanism the planet uses to regulate CO₂ over long periods of time.
The research was led by scientists from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Open University of Israel, who focused on accelerating carbonate weathering, one of Earth’s primary long-term carbon sinks.
In nature, carbon dioxide dissolves into rainwater, becomes mildly acidic and slowly reacts with carbonate rocks to form bicarbonate ions that rivers eventually carry to the ocean.
While effective over geological timescales, the process is far too slow to address modern emissions.
“What if it were possible to take a very slow geological process and compress it into hours?” said Noga Moran of Hebrew University, one of the study’s lead researchers, told The Jerusalem Post. “That is exactly what we set out to do.”
To test the idea, the team built a transparent reactor packed with crushed carbonate rock and circulated seawater and carbon dioxide through it.
By controlling gas flow, water chemistry and rock properties, they were able to observe and tune the reactions in real time, effectively reproducing millennia of natural carbon capture in a single experiment.
Researchers suggest the approach could be adapted for power plants and carbon-intensive industries such as cement and steel. By routing exhaust gases through similar reactors, facilities could convert a portion of their emissions into stable, dissolved carbon using abundant materials like seawater and common rock, offering a nature-based alternative to existing capture technologies.
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