The mineral that could remove 1 billion tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere

And protect shorelines and oceans too- but will it go to scale?
Sade Agard
Ocean seafloor coral reef
Ocean seafloor coral reef

TOSHIHARU ARAKAWA/iStock 

  • Deploying crushed olivine in 0.1 percent-0.25 percent of global shelf seas, 1 billion tonnes of CO2 could be removed from the atmosphere.
  • The project's Coastal Carbon Capture™ approach could remove ocean acidity and provide shoreline resilience to rising sea levels.
  • If scaled up, the cost of carbon dioxide removal could be $35 a ton at the gigatonne scale.

Near the town of Southampton, NY, a team of scientists is hurrying along the coastline, salvaging coastal homes, habitats, and what is left of a navigable harbor — all with striking green sand in hand. While we hate to tell you that this obscure material has nothing to do with kryptonite, it sure does have a unique, eliminating power. This green sand is a highly reactive form of the crushed-up volcanic mineral known as olivine. And it can capture carbon dioxide.

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