Carbon capture biocementation pathways for sustainable geotechnical engineering: a review

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Abstract Geotechnical engineering practice depends heavily on aggressive chemical binders—ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and lime—whose manufacture accounts for roughly 7–8% of global anthropogenic CO₂ emissions, while construction operations contribute about 15% of the world total. Biocementation, defined as the production of biomimetic carbonate cement through the metabolic activity of microorganisms or their enzymes, has emerged as a promising ambient-temperature alternative that can simultaneously stabilize soils and capture CO 2 . This review examines the principal carbon-capture biocementation pathways available to geotechnical engineers—ureolytic microbially-induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP), enzyme-induced carbonate precipitation (EICP), carbonic anhydrase (CA)-mediated biomineralization, denitrification-driven biocementation, methane oxidation and photosynthesis—and surveys their applications in sandy soil stabilization, soft clay improvement, liquefaction mitigation, slope and erosion control, foundation reinforcement, tunnelling and coastal/marine geotechnics. Special attention is paid to non-destructive shear-wave velocity (V s ) monitoring with bender elements, which has been pioneered by the present authors’ research group as a real-time, in-situ method for tracking biocementation progress and the development of the small-strain shear modulus (G 0 ). Reported geotechnical performance is encouraging: optimised MICP and EICP regimes raise Vₛ in sandy soil from ≈138 to 337 m/s, increasing G 0 by up to 211% (peak G 0 ≈ 81 MPa); CA-driven systems capture 75–97% of CO₂ in soil microcosms while concurrently densifying the matrix; bio-fiber composites combining biocement with hemp, sisal, jute or coir add ductility and dynamic-load resistance. Key barriers to large-scale deployment—ammonia by-products, scale-up of CA technology, calcium-source supply, treatment uniformity, life-cycle cost and the absence of validated CA-biocementation kinetic models—are critically discussed, and a research agenda for sustainable, carbon-capturing biocementation in geotechnical engineering is proposed.

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Related topics: Microbial Applications in Construction Materials · Building materials and conservation · CO2 Sequestration and Geologic Interactions