Scientists working on the CarbFix project in Iceland have discovered a process to turn carbon dioxide into stone, potentially solving the problem of possible leakage from CO2 storage sites. According to a study published Friday in the magazine Science, the researchers injected CO2 into basaltic rock, which is both highly reactive and very common worldwide. “We find that over 95 [percent] of the CO2 injected into the CarbFix site in Iceland was mineralized to carbonate minerals in less than 2 years. This result contrasts with the common view that the immobilization of CO2 as carbonate minerals within geologic reservoirs takes several hundreds to thousands of years,” according to the study.
Once the CO2 has mineralized the danger of leakage is eliminated, which not only reduces the risk of CO2 sequestration but also the potential costs related to long-term monitoring, according to the study. “Once stored within carbonate minerals, the leakage risk is eliminated and any monitoring program of the storage site can be significantly reduced, thus enhancing storage security and potentially public acceptance,” the study says.
