"We started this company with the idea of using microbes to make the process of growing food more resilient," says Fuenzalida. "We stumbled upon these microbes that have the ability to create minerals in the soil which contain carbon and that intrigued us."
Once embedded within the root structure, the microbes aid in carbon dioxide removal via a three-step process. First, the microbe aids in turning carbon dioxide from the roots, combined with water from the soil, into bicarbonate ions and protons. Second, it accelerates a natural process known as silicate mineral weathering, which takes silicate minerals-one of the most common soil components-and uses protons (generated in the first step) to strip a positively charged ion, such as a calcium ion, from the mineral. Third, the microbe induces precipitation of carbonate minerals by creating an environment that favors combining the cations generated in the second step with the bicarbonate generated in the first step. These carbonate minerals remain stable for thousands of years, trapping the carbon dioxide.
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