The first factory in the world to turn CO2 into stone

Swiss company Climeworks is cooperating with a geothermal power plant in Iceland to create a power plant that converts CO ₂ into minerals.

An international team of scientists has sought to turn the carbon dioxide obtained into hard minerals over the past few years.The project, called CarbFix, focuses on dipping CO ₂ into water and pumping it underground at a depth of 700m. When exposed to basalt, the CO2 solution quickly formed a carbon-containing mineral, New Atlas reported on October 15.

Geothermal factory in Iceland.(Photo: Arni Saeberg).

Previously, researchers believed that mineralization could take place anywhere from hundreds to thousands of years, but CarbFix scientists were surprised to find CO ₂ into hard minerals in less than two years.

"Our results show that about 95-98% of CO ₂ is mineralized in less than two years, this speed is amazingly fast," said Dr. Juerg Matter, the lead researcher.

Climeworks has become a pioneer in the application of new DAC systems in the past few years. The technology allows collecting CO2 from ambient air into a patented filter. After that, CO ₂ is purified and sold to businesses that need CO ₂ for commercial purposes. The first factory of Climeworks in Zurich transported carbon dioxide collected to a nearby greenhouse.

Climeworks' Zurich air carbon collection plant. (Video: YouTube).

Carbon sequestration, in which carbon dioxide is collected and stored in underground reservoirs, has become a controversial topic in recent years. A 2015 Massachusetts Institute of Technology study found previous isolated processes were not effective. While CO2 can be seized, we do not have any large-scale method to safely remove this gas, causing concern that isolated CO2 can leak back into the atmosphere.

The combination of Climeworks DAC technology with CarbFix mineralization process allows to create a system that not only neutralizes carbon but also does not leak carbon.