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In November, the Paris Climate Agreement goes into effect to reduce global carbon emissions. To achieve the set targets, experts say capturing and storing carbon must be part of the solution. Several projects throughout the world are trying to make that happen. Now, a study on one of those endeavors, reported in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters, has found that within two years, carbon dioxide (CO2) injected into basalt transformed into solid rock.
Lab studies on basalt have shown that the rock, which formed from lava millions of years ago and is found throughout the world, can rapidly convert CO2 into stable carbonate minerals. This evidence suggests that if CO2 could be locked into this solid form, it would be stowed away for good, unable to escape into the atmosphere. But what happens in the lab doesn't always reflect what happens in the field. One field project in Iceland injected CO2 pre-dissolved in water into a basalt formation, where it was successfully stored. And starting in 2009, researchers with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Montana-based Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership undertook a pilot project in eastern Washington to inject 1,000 tons of pressurized liquid CO2 into a basalt formation.
After drilling a well in the Columbia River Basalt formation and testing its properties, the team injected CO2 into it in 2013. Core samples were extracted from the well two years later, and Pete McGrail and colleagues confirmed that the CO2 had indeed converted into the carbonate mineral ankerite, as the lab experiments had predicted. And because basalts are widely found in North America and throughout the world, the researchers suggest that the formations could help permanently sequester carbon on a large scale.
Similar results were found in Iceland.
Does injecting CO2 into rock really make more sense than not putting it into the atmosphere in the first place?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by t-3 on Sunday November 20 2016, @07:43PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 20 2016, @08:46PM
What fun! We get to deny the laws of physics in coming up with solutions. I propose we increase the size of the earth by 2x. More space for everyone and more room for planting trees.
(Score: 2) by t-3 on Sunday November 20 2016, @09:03PM
Where are the laws of physics being denied?
(Score: 2) by dry on Monday November 21 2016, @03:02AM
Trees only grow when they have water and fertile soil. Places without trees usually are deficient in one or both of the requirements.
(Score: 2) by t-3 on Monday November 21 2016, @05:09AM
Not true. cacti grow well in the desert, and there are many tree-trees that can thrive in very dry and infertile conditions. Not to mention, landscaping and engineering can take care of water deficiencies. It's not like you go from a sand dune to an oak forest overnight, you have to work in succession just like nature. Plant cacti and other things that can survive easily at first, and baby what you need to. Manipulate the landscape to create systems that exploit all available water; even deserts have rain and there's always moisture in the air and underground. On top of this, modern infrastructure and technologies like desalination make importing water feasible. Organic matter can be imported as well, but in both cases, these just speed up the process, they aren't necessarily essential. If you're ever in AZ near the Saguaro National Park, stop by the office and ask them about the swales (or just look it up on google maps). These were put in place during the great depression to control floodwaters and never touched again, now they're densely vegetated and lush because the water that would normally rush away in a flash flood is slowed by the massive earthworks and soaks into the ground. Windbreaks, rock-wells, deep-planting, pit gardens, shade plants, terracing, etc. None of this stuff is new, it just hasn't been done on the massive scale I described above.