About This Project

The oceans are a sink for CO2. Rocks such as olivine could be dissolved into ocean water, which would increase the pH and precipitate bicarbonate with magnesium to irreversible withdraw CO2 from the atmosphere and ocean. The natural weathering of olivine takes >10,000 years. Rapid solubilization olivine could neutralize human-produced CO2 and reverse global warming. We propose to create an enzyme that will catalyze and accelerate the solubilization of olivine.