In a first, Iceland power plant turns carbon emissions to stone

[DemMomma4Sanders]

Source: Phys.org

Scientists and engineers working at a major power plant in Iceland have shown for the first time that carbon dioxide emissions can be pumped into the earth and changed chemically to a solid within months—radically faster than anyone had predicted. The finding may help address a fear that so far has plagued the idea of capturing and storing CO2 underground: that emissions could seep back into the air or even explode out. A study describing the method appears this week in the leading journal Science.

The Hellisheidi power plant is the world's largest geothermal facility; it and a companion plant provide the energy for Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, plus power for industry, by pumping up volcanically heated water to run turbines. But the process is not completely clean; it also brings up volcanic gases, including carbon dioxide and nasty-smelling hydrogen sulfide.

Under a pilot project called Carbfix, started in 2012, the plant began mixing the gases with the water pumped from below and reinjecting the solution into the volcanic basalt below. In nature, when basalt is exposed to carbon dioxide and water, a series of natural chemical reactions takes place, and the carbon precipitates out into a whitish, chalky mineral. But no one knew how fast this might happen if the process were harnessed for carbon storage. Previous studies have estimated that in most rocks, it would take hundreds or even thousands of years. In the basalt below Hellisheidi, 95 percent of the injected carbon was solidified within less than two years.




Read more: http://phys.org/news/2016-06-climate-mitigation-co2.html

[AgingAmerican]

1. This is earth shattering news

Now all we have to do is STOP PRODUCING CO2 and start converting it back into a solid.

[tonyt53]

2. Actually, this isn't new. A group in CA produced a coral-like substance about four years ago too.

Pretty much used the same process.

[Hortensis]

10. Thanks for posting. This sounds promising.

Last edited Mon Jun 13, 2016, 05:30 AM - Edit history (1)

[lordsummerisle]

3. K&R n/t

[Punx]

4. Heck of a lot of Basalt

In Oregon,

In fact probably more than half of the state. Will be interesting to see if benefits out weigh energy in and the volcanic gasses it produces.

[chknltl]

5. KnR nt

[jtuck004]

6. Maybe not the first. Once upon a time, there was an advanced civilization. Even though

they had figured out how to turn their output to stone, could not figure out how to stop themselves from burning everything up. Then one day, all that was left were the stones...

[daleo]

7. It is expensive to capture and ship CO2

Even if you have a handy basalt formation to put it in. And, for cars and such, it is essentially impossible.

So, this isn't really going to be a significant factor in preventing global warming.

[Hortensis]

11. Not the kind of education I want, but thanks.

I somehow missed, or forgot I read about, this.

Still, most big problems require attacking from multiple directions, and use of basalt does seem as if it could be one of them, though no doubt there would be problems. We have some "handy" basalt formations. We also have pipelines all over the place already, nothing new about building them, but...why couldn't some new manufacturing and cattle feed lots go to the rock?

Couldn't make bigger. Brown splotches are basalt, green are CO2 sources.

[daleo]

14. This can play a role

Probably a relatively minor role, but the solution to global warming will be the aggregate of a lot of smaller solutions.

[valerief]

8. Fantastic. Now, if we could only get rid of nuclear waste. nt

[Nihil]

9. Nuclear waste is already localised. Fossil fuel waste is global. (n/t)

[Judi Lynn]

12. Wonderful. Thank you. n/t

[ChairmanAgnostic]

13. Heh, back to the stone age.

What a great development.