If every breath you exhaled made you worry about the Carbon Dioxide emissions and the ill-effects of it, its time you took a deep breath and exhaled out loud. Scientists have found out a way to dispose off CO2 without harming the environment any more.
What is the Experiment all about?
CO2 is a constituent of acid rain and promotes global warming. “We need to deal with the rising carbon emissions.” said Juerg Matter, lead author of the study. He added that turning CO2 into stone is the ultimate method of disposing off the gas. The experiment was conducted in Iceland where a team of scientists pumped huge quantities of carbon dioxide underground where it solidified in a matter of months.
A rather revolutionary way of tackling the greenhouse gas, this innovative experiment was conducted in the largest geothermal facility of the world which also powers Reykjavik , the capital of Iceland.
It was NOT Easy to Achieve the Desired Result
The plant itself produces 40,000 tons of CO2 and has been trying to find ways to discard the gas before 2012. Earlier attempts to pump CO2 into sandstone had failed because sandstone could not hold the gas down and scientists feared a gas leak.
But since 2012 they started pumping CO2 mixed with water into volcanic basalt. A porous, blackish rock, basalt is rich in calcium, iron and magnesium; minerals researchers said are needed to solidify carbon for storage. “It was a very welcome surprise,” said Edda Aradottir, who heads the project for Reykjavik Energy.
Previous studies had estimated that in most rocks, it would take hundreds or even thousands of years. In the volcanic basalt almost 95 percent of the pumped carbon dioxide solidified in almost two years.
Future Prospects of this Project
Although an expensive setup the scientists are hopeful to find cheaper alternatives but it all depends on the environmental adaptability of the project.
Encouraged by the success of the project, the work has now been taken up by Columbia University’s Earth Observatory. A hydrologist from the observatory commented that they are trying to mark out places with rich basalt deposits to facilitate the disposal of the gas.
Liked this article then read on:
http://edtimes.in/2016/02/plastic-man-plastic-disposal/
