A UW-Madison researcher, working with a collaborator at IIT Kanpur, has developed improvements to a process for absorption-based carbon dioxide capture, where the CO2-rich solvent is regenerated by reaction with alkaline industrial wastes at atmospheric conditions without any heat input. This process has a wider operating window and utilizes various industrial wastes and natural minerals, as well as overcoming concerns related to scale formation. The key steps include: (1) use of two absorber units instead of single unit, (2) separation of scale-forming products (precipitated silica, alumina, calcium carbonates etc.) by acid dosing, (3) use of zwitterionic amino acid additives to the second absorber column to enhance kinetics, and (4) use of counter-current or cross-current solid-liquid flow in the carbonation reactor for better carbonation kinetics and CO2 storage.