CarbFix project converts excess atmospheric CO2 into rock

Economist : As global warming increases, researchers have been seeking ways to deal with the ever-increasing amounts of greenhouse gases being pumped into the atmosphere. One method proposed by Juerg Matter of Southampton University in the UK and his colleagues is to turn excess carbon dioxide into rock. Their project, called CarbFix, has successfully sequestered the CO₂ from the emissions of a geothermal power station in Iceland. About 175 metric tons of the gas was mixed with a radioactive tracker chemical, dissolved in water, and then pumped into a layer of basalt a half kilometer belowground. In less than two years, 95% of the CO₂ had been mineralized. Now the CarbFix process is being tested on a larger scale by burying nearly 10 000 metric tons of CO₂ as well as 7300 metric tons of hydrogen sulfide, a noxious pollutant also found in exhaust gas.