Scientists reveal technique to turn carbon dioxide into rock for cleaner air

In an attempt to combat climate change in a more quicker way, scientists have unveiled a new technique that turns hazardous greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide to stone.

Researchers in Iceland have revealed a new technology, which imitates a process of carbon being absorbed by basalt rock that normally takes place over thousands of years, to help clean the atmosphere of carbon dioxide.

The method works by turning carbon dioxide into ‘fizzy water’. By capturing the gas with the help of steam and later converting it into condensate, the team was able to dissolve carbon dioxide into water. “Basically we are just making soda water out of the CO2,” said project director Edda Sif Aradottir.

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As described by Daily Mail, the combination is then piped several miles away where it is deposited under high pressure into basalt rocks that stretch 3,300ft beneath Iceland’s surface. Here the solidification process begins when carbon dioxide filled liquid comes in contact with calcium, magnesium, and iron in the basalt and starts to mineralize.

“With this method we have actually changed the time scale dramatically,” said geologist Sandra Osk Snaebjornsdottir. “Almost all of the injected CO2 was mineralized within two years in our pilot injection.”

During the experiment, the scientists noted that the method reduced emissions by a third, hence preventing 12,000 tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.

Though this method has proven effective in Iceland, the team mentioned that it might be logistically implausible in other parts of the world. This is because for each ton of carbon dioxide injected and transformed into rocks, the method needs 25 tons of desalinated water, which is abundant in Iceland.

“I agree that the process uses a lot of water, but we gain a lot by permanently getting rid of CO2 that otherwise would be floating around the atmosphere,” expressed Aradottir.