John Wettlaufer, A. M. Bateman Professor of Geophysics, Professor of Mathematics, Professor of Physics, along with collaborators, was awarded a Yale Planetary Solutions Project seed grant for their work on natural carbon capture, storage, and utilization.
In its second year, the Planetary Solutions Project seed grant program distributed over $1.5 million to 23 projects building novel solutions to improve human health in a changing climate, capture carbon more efficiently, cool our cities, and enhance the ability of plants and animals to thrive.
These projects focus on mitigating harm, adapting to change, and engaging the public, as described in the Planetary Solutions Project Framework. Awarded projects this year clustered around biodiversity, carbon capture, emissions mitigation, climate policy & action, and human health.
These grants were made possible by the Climate Impact Innovation Fund, the Gordon Data and Environmental Sciences Research Grants, the Natural Carbon Solutions Fund, and the Science Catalyst Fund for Planetary Solutions. The awarded projects are described below.
Natural Carbon Capture, Storage, and Utilization
Carbon Dioxide Storage Through Mineralization: From Pore-Scale to Formation-Scale
Participants: Amir Pahlavan, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science; John Wettlaufer, Department of Geophysics, Mathematics and Physics
Capturing and storing carbon dioxide is one of many approaches necessary to avoid the worst risks of climate change. But we know relatively little about how to store carbon in underground rock formations such that it will not leak. Pilot field tests confirm that injecting carbon dioxide into reactive subsurface environments can lead it to form solids and become trapped. However, injection can also lead to dissolution, subsequent fracturing, and the creation of flow pathways that could reduce storage capacity and even cause leakage. This project aims to improve our understanding of dissolution/precipitation reactions and transport in porous media. Using microfluidic and bench-top experiments, numerical simulations, and theoretical modeling, the team hopes to create predictive models for effective storage of carbon dioxide in subsurface formations.
This story is excerpted from the Yale Planetary Solutions Project news story of May 1, 2023. See below for link to the full story, to the project framework site, and to the Yale News story of May 4, 2023 by Jim Shelton.