On October 1, the Earth and Life Institute is pleased to welcome Dr. Sigurður Gíslason for a new ELI-Sustainability Talk.

Abstract

Due to the rapid increase in atmospheric carbon concentrations, global average temperatures have increased by more than 1.2 °C since the start of the industrial revolution. 

One way to slow or even arrest this increasing global average temperature is through Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). 

Carbon dioxide can be captured either from large industrial point sources or directly from the atmosphere. Taking account of the natural carbon cycle, the most secure approach to storing captured CO2 is by reacting it with mafic or ultramafic rocks to form stable carbonate minerals, a process referred to as “mineral carbonation”. 

Although mineral carbonation can occur and be accelerated at the Earth’s surface, due to the required scale and required time frames it is most effective in the subsurface.

The guest

Dr. Sigurður Reynir Gíslason is a Research Professor in geochemistry at the University of Iceland's Institute of Earth Sciences. 

He was President of the European Association of Geochemistry (2019–2020), he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2024) and the National Academy of Sciences (USA) (2025). He's also recipient of the Patterson Award from the Geochemical Society (2018).

He has published over 200 scientific articles cited more than 20.000 times.

He's the co-founder and co-director of the CarbFix project (2006–2020), which developed the method to capture CO2 and store it as carbonate minerals in basalt.

Practical

When: October 1
- Lunch: 12:15 - 12:55
- Talk: 13:00 - 13:55

Where: Place Croix du Sud, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
- Lunch: de Serres cafeteria
- Talk: Ocean room, de Serres building

Follow online here.

For who: Open to everyone.

Price: Free, but mandatory registration for the lunch.

Registration: Register here by 27 September at the latest. Registration is mandatory for the lunch. Registration for the talk only is appreciated but not mandatory.