“Researchers have developed a process for refining nickel that they say could dramatically cut its carbon footprint, which is currently equivalent to the total emissions of a small country. ‘Primary production of nickel is highly carbon-intensive,’ says Manzoor. On average, refining one ton of nickel ore produces around 20 tons of carbon dioxide…That carbon intensity could grow even higher as more nickel is extracted from laterites, a type of ore that is currently underutilised. Manzoor and his colleagues suggest an alternative method that extracts the oxygen using hydrogen plasma. The hydrogen ions stripped the rock of its oxygen, producing a high-purity mix of nickel and iron, along with magnesium silicates from the rock, which the authors say could be used to make bricks.”From Nature.