Industrial CO2 mineralisation with hydrogen co-production: systemic decarbonisation pathway or extractive lock-in?
Original framing: “Putting CO2 into rocks and getting hydrogen out is climate double win” — New Scientist
CO2 mineralisation (e.g., serpentine carbonation) requires temperatures >150°C and pressures >10 MPa, consuming 1.5–2.5 GJ/tonne CO2—energy that could decarbonise 5–10x more via renewables. Serpentine formations cover <1% of Earth’s surface, and their permeability limits injection rates, making scalability improbable. Hydrogen co-production via water-gas shift reactions emits CO2 unless paired with carbon capture, undermining the 'double win' claim. Peer-reviewed studies (e.g., *Nature Climate Change*, 2021) show mineralisation’s net climate benefit is marginal without radical energy system overhaul.
The 'double win' narrative of CO2 mineralisation and hydrogen co-production exemplifies how techno-optimist framings serve extractive capitalism by repackaging geological extraction as climate salvation.
While peer-reviewed science exposes the thermodynamic and scalability limits of mineralisation, the story’s persistence reflects the power of fossil-fuel lobbyists, mineral corporations, and techno-utopian media to shape decarbonisation agendas. Indigenous knowledge systems—from Māori *kaitiakitanga* to Andean *pachamama*—offer a radical alternative: treating Earth’s crust as kin, not infrastructure, while exposing the absurdity of treating rocks as infinite waste bins. Historical precedents (e.g., Sleipner, Project CO2STORE) and trickster traditions (Hermes, Anansi) reveal the folly of linear thinking, yet marginalised voices—women-led climate groups, Global South scientists, and frontline communities—are systematically excluded from these debates. The path forward requires dismantling the extractive logic itself: replacing mineralisation with circular carbon economies, hydrogen governance that prioritises equity over incumbents, and thermodynamic accountability that centres community consent over corporate profit.