Engineered yeast for enhanced CO2 mineralizationElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c2ee24060b

• Main Authors: Barbero, Roberto, Carnelli, Lino, Simon, Anna, Kao, Albert, Monforte, Alessandra d'Arminio, Riccò, Moreno, Bianchi, Daniele, Belcher, Angela
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 23.01.2013
• ISSN: 1754-5692; 1754-5706
• DOI: 10.1039/c2ee24060b

In this work, a biologically catalysed CO 2 mineralization process for the capture of CO 2 from point sources was designed, constructed at a laboratory scale, and, using standard chemical process scale-up protocols, was modelled and evaluated at an industrial scale. A yeast display system in Saccharomyces cerevisae was used to screen several carbonic anhydrase isoforms and mineralization peptides for their impact on CO 2 hydration, CaCO 3 mineralization, and particle settling rate. Enhanced rates for each of these steps in the CaCO 3 mineralization process were confirmed using quantitative techniques in lab-scale measurements. The effect of these enhanced rates on the CO 2 capture cost in an industrial scale CO 2 mineralization process using coal fly ash as the CaO source was evaluated. The model predicts a process using bCA2-yeast and fly ash is ∼10% more cost effective per tonne of CO 2 captured than a process with no biological molecules, a savings not realized by wild-type yeast and high-temperature stable recombinant CA2 alone or in combination. The levelized cost of electricity for a power plant using this process was calculated and scenarios in which this process compares favourably to CO 2 capture by MEA absorption process are presented. Saccharomyces cerevisae engineered to enhance CO 2 mineralization decreases the cost of CO 2 capture compared to other mineralization approaches.