Scientists have successfully captured otherwise emitted CO2, and turned it into carbonate minerals deep underground in less than 2 years.
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| Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Plant (Courtesy CarbFix Project) |
The ongoing CarbFix2 (Upscaling and optimizing subsurface, in situ carbon mineralization as an economically viable industrial option) project builds upon the success of its predecessor CarbFix (Creating the technology for safe, long-term carbon storage in the subsurface) that ran between 2011 and 2014. It injected CO2 dissolved in water into reactive basaltic rocks, and the technology was tested at a geothermal power plant in Hellisheidi, Iceland. The power plant co-produces electricity and hot water from the Hengill central volcano. As explained on the project website, CarbFix2 was launched “to make the CarbFix geological storage method both economically viable with a complete CCS chain, and to make the technology transportable throughout Europe.”
In a news article on Iceland Review, Dr Sandra Ósk Snæbjörnsdóttir, geologist/geochemist at CarbFix2 project coordinator Reykjavík Energy, says: “Now we are binding around one third of the carbon dioxide the station produces, around 12,000 tonnes per year.” She hopes the power station could become completely carbon neutral within the next few years.
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