Patent ID: 8349281

Claim:
A process for sequestrating carbon in the atmosphere, comprising: a) concentrating atmospheric CO 2 in a liquid phase, by any of the following: (i) liquefying CO 2 in a liquid phase under pressure up to the supercritical state; (ii) absorbing CO 2 in a polar aprotic liquid, not miscible with water, or miscible with water in various proportions; (iii) absorbing CO 2 in an aqueous phase containing an alcohol and/or an amine; or (iv) absorbing CO 2 in the hydrated form in a solvent, activated by an enzymatic pathway, with the provision that in (iii) and (iv) the resultant absorbed CO 2 is transferred to a water-insoluble ionic liquid medium; b) electro-reduction of resultant liquified CO 2 from (i), liquid or of resultant absorbed CO 2 , in said polar aprotic liquid from (ii) or of resultant CO 2 from (iii) or from (iv) that has been transferred to the water-insoluble ionic liquid medium, to produce oxalic acid or formic acid in which the carbon changes to oxidation number +3; c) optionally extracting said oxalic acid or formic acid in an aqueous phase; and d) mineralization by reacting said oxalic acid or formic acid with a carbonate of an element M, producing a mineral in which the atomic ratio C/M is about 2/1, wherein M is any metallic element with an oxidation number of +2, and C is carbon, and wherein the oxalic acid and formic acid are in an acid or salt form.