Every human being desires access to everything necessary to lead a comfortable life, both now and in the future. However, those of us who live in so-called "first world" countries often produce a considerable amount of contamination. This is due to our daily activities, such as the use of vehicles that run on fossil fuels (gasoline or diesel), as well as the improper management of waste that ends up in our oceans instead of being recycled. Faced with this reality, it becomes crucial to look for effective strategies to mitigate, or at least slow down, global warming.
One of the most recent innovations comes from the Swiss company weatherworks. With Reykjavik Energy, have started a project in Iceland that seeks extract carbon dioxide from the air and mineralize it into rock, a key process in the transformation of CO2 into stone in IcelandThis approach not only offers a solution to CO2 emissions, but also represents an environmentally responsible method for storing this greenhouse gas.
The project, supported by the European Union, sets as its goal bury 50 tons of CO2 in the atmosphere every year, using fans and chemical solutions in a carefully designed process. To put this into perspective, 50 tons of CO2 is approximately the amount emitted into the atmosphere by a average American family in a year. Considering that the world's population is approaching ten billion people, this experiment presents itself as a viable option to counteract the effects of global warming. Furthermore, the use of greenhouse gases is also being investigated as an alternative.
The process is carried out by dilute the gas in water and then inject it about 1000 meters undergroundThere, the company Reykjavik Energy He claims that carbon reacts with basaltic rock, turning into stone in a period of approximately two years. However, one of the main obstacles is the cost: Currently, extracting a ton of gas can cost hundreds of dollars. However, the director and founder of weatherworks He emphasizes that although the project is being carried out on a small scale, the goal is to expand it, which could potentially reduce costs.
The idea of turning CO2 into stone may sound strange, but it represents a significant advance in the fight against climate change. A group of researchers, through the project carbfix, demonstrated that this technique is not only possible, but effective. By injecting CO2 into basaltic rock formations, the gas reacts and mineralizes, forming carbonate, a stable material like limestone. This process is remarkably rapid, with a 95-98% of injected CO2 is mineralized in less than two yearsThis result is especially encouraging, since the Original estimates anticipated that the process could take up to 12 years.
Technical details of the process
To better understand how this process is carried out, it is essential to break down the steps involved in the CO2 capture and mineralization:
- CO2 capture: This process involves collecting CO2 from industrial sources or directly from the atmosphere, using advanced technologies.
- Dissolution in water: Once collected, the CO2 is dissolved in large volumes of water to facilitate its subsequent injection into rock formations.
- Injection into basalt formations: CO2-laden water is injected into layers of basaltic rock at ideal depths, where chemical conditions allow the gas to convert into minerals.
- Mineralization: Through chemical reactions, the injected CO2 mineralizes into carbonate, becoming permanently trapped with no possibility of returning to the atmosphere.
Impact and economic viability
The impact of this technology could be significant. Currently, more than 40 billion tons of CO2 annually, and having methods to reduce this volume is crucial to the fight against climate change. The prospect of storing billion tons of CO₂ in stone form is an ambitious goal that could be achieved by 2030, showing the enormous potential of mineralization.
However, there is costs and associated challengesCurrently, the cost of the direct air capture process is high, reaching up to 1.000 euros per tonneThis has led to various companies, including investors like Bill Gates and Elon Musk, to finance projects related to carbon capture and removal, highlighting the importance of these efforts in the economic and environmental agenda. carbon capture and storage have become essential parts of this agenda.
La carbon capture becomes crucial in the face of these challenges, highlighting the importance of reducing our CO2 emissions.
Related aspects and future developments
Some research suggests that carbon capture and storage is not only a viable alternative, but an essential complement to the global effort to reduce emissions. The geothermal plant at Hellisheidi in Iceland serves as a model of how the renewable energy can be aligned with carbon capture practices. This facility is already actively capturing emissions and collaborating with companies like Climeworks to ensure that CO2 is converted into minerals and no longer contributes to global warming. Furthermore, the impact of climate change on droughts is one of the aspects that has been widely discussed.
Other projects at European level, such as CarbFix2, are expanding research into carbon capture and storage, incorporating new technologies to optimize CO2 injection and storage, ensuring its long-term security and contributing to Europe's climate neutrality by 2050.
The advancement in CO2-to-stone technology represents a ray of hope in the fight against climate change. While we continue to face significant challenges, initiatives like Climeworks and CarbFix demonstrate that there is a viable path toward reducing emissions and safely storing greenhouse gases.
