For a modern-day climate scientist, this rock could be magical.
A basalt core with carbonate crystals growing inside. Photo from Annette K. Mortensen/University of Southampton.
<p>Humans release at least <a href="https://www.co2.earth/global-co2-emissions" target="_blank">35 billion tons</a> of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year, which can be tough on the environment.</p><p><strong>But what if, alchemy-like, we could take all that carbon dioxide and turn it into rock?</strong><br></p><h2>At Iceland's Hellisheidi power plant, that's what they've been trying to do.</h2><p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTUxNjczNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMzM3MTI4Mn0.kzbsro_2hmJYmwJxWW_MDiRpFxpQhKdL2Vg6MWqI3EM/img.jpg?width=980" id="0a011" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7ad52651ff83d5a0a10c17e32229e801" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p class="image-caption">Photo from Árni Sæberg/University of Southampton.</p><p>Hellisheidi is a geothermal plant, which means it uses volcanically-heated water to run turbines, but the process isn't perfectly emission-free — it can bring up volcanic gases, including carbon dioxide.</p><p>And while the amount of those gases it generates are only a tiny fraction of what a coal plant would produce, the power plant still wanted to get rid of it.</p><h2>So in 2012, they started a pilot program, Carbfix, to try putting that carbon back in the ground.</h2><p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTUxNjczNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5ODIxNDM3MH0.7Fi-grOQsy0DedtBWdRjXNPOwWeKAbyuBfzIh8Cd1Pc/img.jpg?width=980" id="45f1d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ca6df5caf579d40880d91abefefe41e0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"><br></p><p class="image-caption">An early injection site. Photo by Kevin Krajick/Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, used with permission.</p><p>How do they do it?</p><h2>They capture the plant's carbon dioxide, mix it with water, and inject it nearly a half-mile down into the volcanic basalt.</h2><p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTUxNjczNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDgyOTU4MX0.srAWpDz4QkrGWk6j4AHbEKy6oMME0tHzz0mE_ItrDJ8/img.jpg?width=980" id="1698f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0d6bbbc43b83061331daa0f50c30b7b9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p class="image-caption">This futuristic-looking space bubble is actually the newer injection site for the Carbfix project. Photo by Kevin Krajick/Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, used with permission.</p><h2>There, the carbon dioxide reacts with chemicals naturally found in the basalt and turns from a gas into chalky, white carbonate.</h2><p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTUxNjczOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMDcxNDIzNn0.mcmJu9rcwhzHI7ClnKnm2mMTgIgc8BH3VwwEor0AL3c/img.jpg?width=980" id="43f8a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="abeb1e910a3c646c4164d0c79e78ef85" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p class="image-caption">University of Iceland geologist and study co-author Sandra Snaebjornsdottir holds up a piece of basalt covered in carbonate deposits. Photo by Kevin Krajick/Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, used with permission.</p><p>Some previous projects have tried pumping carbon dioxide into sandstone or aquifers, but that was essentially just hiding the carbon dioxide. This process <em>transforms</em> it.</p><h2>That's great! But the truly amazing thing is that the process works hundreds of times faster than anyone predicted.</h2><p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTUxNjczOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNTczODAwM30.M5g3FlRh08QXaX5DmkKKclesJPnwezgYNGXauq7G0cM/img.jpg?width=980" id="045e0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9ce404f1c5762358ac82ed47d51b2690" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p class="image-caption">Two scientists inspect some of the rock samples. Photo by Kevin Krajick/Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, used with permission.</p><p>We knew this chemical reaction was theoretically possible, but previous studies guessed that it'd take hundreds, maybe even thousands, of years to work.</p><p>But Hellisheidi blew that timeline away. <strong>Within two years, 95% of the carbon dioxide pumped down had been turned into rock.</strong> The researchers just published these astounding findings <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6291/1312" target="_blank">in the journal Science</a>.</p><h2>This is amazing because it's not just Iceland that can do this. We could do this anywhere there's basalt.</h2><p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTUxNjc0MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNzQ3NzIxMH0.AaAy9_UdnDXytKYBuwdE18qMp-KuDirBMEAWiE8EBCQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="d774c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c3dfb2a19f427ec5407afa824f5dcfec" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p class="image-caption">At Iceland's Black Falls, water pours over columns of pure basalt rock. Photo by Kevin Krajick/Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, used with permission.</p><p>Basalt is formed from volcanoes. Most of the sea floor is made of basalt and about 10% of continental rocks are too.</p><h2>The Iceland scientists aren't being too hasty though. The next step is to try again at a larger scale.</h2><p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTUxNjc0MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNDgyNTUyNX0.Gu-T1LEZvowBfZpmApKvbUlr-vG6NueD2AGaDbGwtq8/img.jpg?width=980" id="21c3e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9de9e712eecca03915eaad3ae1b3d8e1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p class="image-caption">The Hellisheidi power plant from a distance. Photo by Kevin Krajick/Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, used with permission.</p><p>The project is currently injecting 5,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year. They're planning to double that rate this summer and see how it works.</p><h2>They're also being careful about any unintended consequences.</h2><p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTUxNjc0Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NjQyMTcwMX0.5z3bIBN7hLpKGRrOGeNgCXsmjpygI8pKYJpubLRCxOQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="e2e4b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="42cc5b20d85e164939536baae55ce90a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p class="image-caption">A rock core covered in slime. Photo by Kevin Krajick/Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, used with permission.</p><p>Some of the cores contained a greenish slime, for instance, which may be biological. Microbiologists are going to study this slime to learn how the Carbfix process might affect underground microbes.</p><p>And all of this research is key if we're going to stop climate change.</p><h2>Carbon capture is a needed bridge to help us while we transition to clean energy.</h2><p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTUxNjc0My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNjQ0MjY2Nn0.wKsBFfMN_ShWWZGv0yinlOCRYbMSFWZZdMrUTBCBrvg/img.jpg?width=980" id="1d827" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="01ade7ece4cddc4213a33efc7fa520f6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p class="image-caption">The 38th Session of the IPCC. Photo from Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images.</p><p>In 2014, the International Panel on Climate Change included <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/special-reports/srccs/srccs_chapter1.pdf" target="_blank">carbon capture</a> in their list of options to help us limit climate change.</p><h2>There's still a lot we need to do to stop climate change, but this technique could be a huge step forward.</h2><p> There are many things we can personally do — such as limiting energy use and using our cars less — but we need action at the systematic level too.</p><p>"We need to deal with rising carbon emissions," said Dr. Jeurg Matter, lead author of the paper, <a href="http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/3292" target="_blank">in an article from Columbia University</a>.<strong> </strong></p><p><strong></strong><strong>"This is the ultimate permanent storage — turning them back to stone."</strong></p>
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