Iceland power plant turns CO2 emissions into rock

• 8 years ago (2016-06-13)
• David Flin

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Reykjavik Energy’s CarbFix project has found that CO2 injected into volcanic bedrock rapidly turns into minerals that stay locked away permanently. The CarbFix project has, since 2012, been injecting CO2 underground in a way that converts it into rock. This kind of carbon sequestration has been tried before, but researchers working on the project have reported that the process of mineralising the CO2 happens far more quickly than expected, improving the prospects for scaling up this technology. Injecting CO2 and water into the basalt rocks of a volcanic landscape allows the mixture to react with calcium, magnesium, and iron in the basalt, turning into carbonate minerals such as limestone.

The new study shows that more than 95 per cent of the injected material turned to rock in less than two years. Edda Aradóttir, Project Manager for CarbFix, said: “No-one actually expected it to be this quick.” The project is already storing 5000 tons underground per year, and new equipment being installed this summer aims to double the rate of storage. She said that CarbFix spends $30 per ton to capture and inject the CO2, compared to $65-100 per ton by conventional methods. A lot of the savings are a result of not having to purify the CO2. It and the hydrogen sulphide are simply mixed with additional water and injected underground.