Work

Microbial dissolution of Gran Canaria lapilli in small-scale flow through columns: carbon dioxide removal potential

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Carbon dioxide removal technologies are urgently needed to stay within the 2 °C warming limit. This study evaluated Gran Canaria lapilli and a commercially available lava basalt as feedstocks for bio-weathering in flow-through columns inoculated with Aureobasidium pullulans, Suillus variegatus, Bacillus subtilis, and Cupriavidus metallidurans. Weathering rates for biotic lapilli (2.92 ± 0.28 × 10−12 mol m−2 s−1) and lava basalt (2.17 ± 0.15 × 10−12 mol m−2 s−1) are statistically significantly greater than the abiotic controls (lapilli = 1.08 ± 0.01 × 10−12, lava basalt = 0.98 ± 0.02 × 10−12 mol m−2 s−1), with inoculation explaining most of the variance. While lapilli had faster weathering rates and greater phospholipid fatty acid biomasses, lava basalt sequestered more carbon: 1.38 and 0.61 mmol C (biotic and abiotic) compared to 0.56 and −0.25 mmol C for lapilli. Both materials show promise for CDR in bio-weathering systems.

Source: npj Materials Degradation

DOI: 10.1038/s41529-025-00611-9