Prof. Dr. Fumio Inagaki 

Geobiology, the fusional scientific discipline to understand dynamic interactions between life and the Earth’s physical environment, is becoming increasingly significant for carbon and energy cycle management in pursuit of its potential to mitigate global warming and ultimately create sustainability in human society. One of the potential paths to carbon dioxide reduction (CDR) is to utilize the vast space and structure of the subsurface environment, known as carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (CCS).

Highly fractured oceanic crust is referred to as subseafloor ocean, representing Earth’s most prominent subseafloor permeable space, where humanity could store the necessary amount of CO2 and fix it as mineral carbonates semi-permanently. Almost all subseafloor environments currently considered for CCS are within the extent of the deep biosphere where microorganisms reside.

This project aims to conduct rock-fluid-life interaction experiments under the assumption of various oceanographic and geological settings for CCS and to understand how subseafloor microbial ecosystems contribute to the carbon transformation and mineralization processes in response to the CO2-rich fluid injection into crustal environments.