CarbFix is an EU-funded international project taking place in Iceland. The project’s aim is to attempt to shorten the time carbon takes to mineralise underground.
Since 2012 scientists have stored nearly 170 tons of carbon dioxide inside layers of basaltic rocks found 460 metres (1,500 feet) beneath the geothermal fields near the Hengill volcano range, South Iceland, by injecting hundreds of tons of water and carbon dioxide gas into the rocks.
Read more: Going Green; How Iceland’s geothermal surplus could shape the UK energy market
According to New Scientist the standard method of storing carbon is to inject pure CO2 deep into the Earth’s crust. But there is a risk that gas bubbles will leak back out. CarbFix’s method on the other hand, is more” permanent, safer, and needs less monitoring than conventional carbon storage”.
“We take CO2 and wastewater from the same geothermal power plant (in Hellisheiði) and inject them together. The CO2 dissolves and, like in a bottle of sparkling water, it stays dissolved as long as it's sealed. It then reacts with calcium and magnesium silicates in rocks to form carbonates,” geologist Juerg Matter of the University of Southampton told New Scientist.
Read more: The Westman Islands are the Pompeii of the North
Understandably, CarbFix has gained world-wide attention with newspapers such as the New York Times writing about the project.
90 percent of Iceland is made up of basalt, making it the ideal spot for CarbFix experiments. Also, due to the country’s experience in harnessing geothermal energy, Iceland has both the scientific expertise to perform a successful field scale test and to develop the technology to export the new technology developed from the CarbFix program.
CarbFix is an EU-funded international project taking place in Iceland. The project’s aim is to attempt to shorten the time carbon takes to mineralise underground.
Since 2012 scientists have stored nearly 170 tons of carbon dioxide inside layers of basaltic rocks found 460 metres (1,500 feet) beneath the geothermal fields near the Hengill volcano range, South Iceland, by injecting hundreds of tons of water and carbon dioxide gas into the rocks.
Read more: Going Green; How Iceland’s geothermal surplus could shape the UK energy market
According to New Scientist the standard method of storing carbon is to inject pure CO2 deep into the Earth’s crust. But there is a risk that gas bubbles will leak back out. CarbFix’s method on the other hand, is more” permanent, safer, and needs less monitoring than conventional carbon storage”.
“We take CO2 and wastewater from the same geothermal power plant (in Hellisheiði) and inject them together. The CO2 dissolves and, like in a bottle of sparkling water, it stays dissolved as long as it's sealed. It then reacts with calcium and magnesium silicates in rocks to form carbonates,” geologist Juerg Matter of the University of Southampton told New Scientist.
Read more: The Westman Islands are the Pompeii of the North
Understandably, CarbFix has gained world-wide attention with newspapers such as the New York Times writing about the project.
90 percent of Iceland is made up of basalt, making it the ideal spot for CarbFix experiments. Also, due to the country’s experience in harnessing geothermal energy, Iceland has both the scientific expertise to perform a successful field scale test and to develop the technology to export the new technology developed from the CarbFix program.
