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Deep in the jagged red mountains of Oman, geologists are drilling in search of the holy grail of reversing climate change: an efficient and cheap way to remove carbon dioxide from the air and oceans.
They are coring samples from one of the world's only exposed sections of the Earth's mantle to uncover how a spontaneous natural process millions of years ago transformed CO2 into limestone and marble.
[...] Around 13 tons of core samples from four different sites will be sent to the Chikyu, a state-of-the-art research vessel off the coast of Japan, where Keleman and other geologists will analyze them in round-the-clock shifts.
They hope to answer the question of how the rocks managed to capture so much CO2 over the course of 90 million years — and to see if there's a way to speed up the timetable.
Kelemen thinks a drilling operation could cycle carbon-rich water into the newly formed seabed on oceanic ridges far below the surface. Just like in Oman's mountains, the submerged rock would chemically absorb carbon from the water. The water could then be cycled back to the surface to absorb more CO2 from the atmosphere, in a sort of conveyor belt.
The geologists are studying how well the rock core samples from Oman absorb CO2 in the hope they can build a means to sequester captured carbon in the Earth's mantle.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday April 15 2017, @01:40AM (2 children)
Can they really be THAT different than other rocks?
Can the process by which this happens still be that much of a mystery in this day when chemistry is thought to be a pretty much finished science?
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Saturday April 15 2017, @01:52AM
It might be that the rock in question is ready to use as-is. Which translates to less energy requirements.
I find it interesting at least. But there are other techniques already. So the big problem is really to get power to drive them. Because it ought to use at least as a minimum the amount of energy expended when that CO2 were created. Pumping up CO2 in the atmosphere to later remove it. That is a gigantic energy and entropy waste.
Any seller of a cheap over unity fusion reactor out there? ;)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 15 2017, @03:05PM
when chemistry is thought to be a pretty much finished science?
lolwut?
Thought by who? You?
You have a real knack for tossing off total bullshit claims as if it they were well-established.
What is it like to live in the alternate reality of your head?