Mission-driven sciences and technology advancing the security and well-being of the nation
Highlights
Glenn Fox
Cleaning our atmosphere through carbon capture and sequestration
As our nation’s leaders expand investments in climate change research and mitigation, LLNL continues to focus on new science-based solutions that can be tailored to local needs, drawing on the Physical and Life Sciences Directorate’s expertise in atmospheric science, geoscience, hydrology, climate modeling, materials science, and bioscience. One key focus of the research involves addressing a gigaton-scale challenge: how to remove ten gigatons of carbon dioxide (CO2) from our atmosphere each year to constrain global warming. To fully grasp the scope of this endeavor, consider that the world currently harvests about a gigaton of grain each year, and the goal of this mission is 10 times larger.
Further, once CO2 is removed from the atmosphere, where should it go? Can it be safely stored somewhere? Can it be harvested from the atmosphere and recycled into a usable resource? LLNL’s latest research indicates that our planet’s natural resources are key to overcoming this challenge—leveraging the capabilities already available to us through local ecosystems.
For example, LLNL scientists and engineers are exploring ways to:
- Capture and sequester carbon in natural reservoirs through better management of these environments. Examples include improving how we manage forests, reforest areas impacted by wildfires, and restore wetlands that can sequester carbon.
- Improve agricultural practices that play a key role in carbon sequestration, including determining which crops to plant and using no-till agricultural practices that avoid plowing the soil so that carbon-rich root networks remain in place.
- Enhance the long-term carbon storage potential of soil by expanding our understanding of the mechanisms that regulate soil carbon, such as the role that microbes play in stabilizing soil carbon.
- Evaluate opportunities for long-term geologic storage of CO2, such as safely sequestering CO2 thousands of feet underground in the same kinds of sedimentary rock formations that have held oil and gas for millions of years.
LLNL researchers are also exploiting advances in Livermore materials science to design new direct-air-capture technologies that can absorb CO2 into a solvent or adsorb CO2 onto a solid material, and then release it for long-term storage.
Learn more about LLNL’s research regarding atmospheric CO2 removal, including:
- An overview of potential solutions and related research projects at LLNL.
- A report prepared for the State of California regarding local carbon removal solutions.
- How LLNL scientists are collaborating with policymakers and other experts to determine the best way to implement carbon capture and storage strategies in California.
- Strategies to maximize carbon sequestration in soil.
- Download reports authored by LLNL scientists regarding carbon capture and sequestration, along with other carbon initiatives, such as CO2 recycling.
CCMS
Summer Institute
The 2018 Computational Chemistry and Materials Science (CCMS) Summer Institute will have a special focus on “Quantum Materials and Chemistry” to highlight the science challenges and research opportunities in the development of novel materials for emerging energy and information technologies.
MaCI
Summer Internship
Materials and Chemistry Institute (MaCI) offers a unique summer internship experience. Interns have access to state-of-the-art facilities like the Nanoscale Synthesis and Characterization Laboratory, the Jupiter Laser Facility, the Energetic Materials Center, and the National Ignition Facility.
Nuclear Forensics
Summer Institute
The mission of the Seaborg Institute is to facilitate the training of the next generation of nuclear scientists. This program offers graduate students the opportunity to work directly with leading LLNL researchers on projects in the areas of nuclear forensics, nuclear chemistry, and environmental radiochemistry.
