VATIS UPDATE Article

Scientists at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, the United States, are developing way to prevent carbon dioxide (CO2) produced by power plants and industries from ever entering the atmosphere, and they are exploring ways to take CO2 out of the environment. In a study, scientists announced that, for the first time, CO2 captured from a power plant in Iceland and pumped underground had mineralized into a white, chalky substance for permanent storage, and this conversion happened far faster than anyone expected.

Lamont scientists are now exploring similar possibilities with vastly greater storage potential beneath the oceans off the U.S. coasts, and they are experimenting with a type of rock found in abundance in Earth’s mantle that could be used to go the next step and begin taking CO2 out of the environment. “It’s clear that, no matter what we may wish, we will not put the brakes on the carbon economy fast enough to avoid overshooting safe CO2 limits in the air,” said geologist Peter Kelemen, who is leading studies on mantle rocks and their potential for CO2 removal.

Scaled up, the process of capturing CO2 from power plants and factories and turning it into a solid could buy time as countries worldwide shift away from fossil fuel use and toward cleaner energy sources. Scientists used CO2 captured at the power plant, and mixed it with water and hydrogen sulfide, creating soda-like carbonation, then injected the mixture into porous basalt rocks 400 to 800 meters underground. Basalt, which is created as lava cools, contains calcium, iron, and magnesium, which react naturally with CO2 to form solid carbonate minerals.