Re:A CO2 capture solvent with exceptionally low total costs ...
by DennisP on Sunday April 04, 2021 @07:03AM
(#26688439)
One great idea for storage is underground basalt formations. Inject CO2, and it'll turn into limestone in under two years. It can't solve the whole problem by itself, but there's enough capacity for gigatons of CO2.
There are several entities working on this. Here's a company with a small pilot project, and links to scientific papers: https://www.carbfix.com/
Re:A CO2 capture solvent with exceptionally low total costs ...
by throwaway316943 on Sunday April 04, 2021 @07:20AM
(#26688540)
I believe basalt can be produced artificially as well, is there a chance we could build limestone farms? That would be a neat trick.
Re:A CO2 capture solvent with exceptionally low total costs ...
by corty on Sunday April 04, 2021 @02:15PM
(#26691610)
Artificial production alone doesn't do the trick. It would have to be low in energy consumption, preferably exothermic. I don't think there is such a reaction with plentifully available material. Otherwise you spend more energy on the basalt than the CO_2 production gave you.
Also, large parts of this planet consist of natural basalt deposits, every area with some current or historic vulcanism has them. E.g. half of Siberia is a huge basalt deposit. Google Siberian Trap. So I do not think artificial production would be necessary.
Re:A CO2 capture solvent with exceptionally low total costs ...
by londons_explore on Sunday April 04, 2021 @06:20AM
(#26688228)
The little detail that injecting CO2 into gas and oil wells can help get more gas and oil out of them is the main reason companies are investing in this tech. If the government can be persuaded to pay for the research, all the better!
Re:A CO2 capture solvent with exceptionally low total costs ...
by PaulHoule on Sunday April 04, 2021 @06:57AM
(#26688415)
In Texas you can find big pockets of CO2 undeground and pdople havd been driling holes into those and pumping the CO2 into oil wells. Thus the pipeline, injection, etc. are all developed.
CO2 at 1200 psi will mix with oil very well and do wonders getting into pores, but to scale up storage there are not enough oil wells and we'd probably store in saline aquifers.
Re:A CO2 capture solvent with exceptionally low total costs ...
by marcosdumay on Sunday April 04, 2021 @10:05AM
(#26689473)
> But the compression itself and the heating will cost significant energy too, don't forget this.
That's in the abstract, it's 2GJ/ton of carbon. So, it's roughly 1/20 of the energy generated by burning the carbon at the first place.
But consider for a moment how much coal and oil we've been digging up since the industrial age. CO2 is much less dense once it's uncontained underground. It won't stay liquid at that pressure.
In that case we'll need to have underground space of a size of many times the space that all that coal and oil took up, due to the lower density. Just pumping it there, forcing it underground in different spots etc will also cause significant ecological disruption. It's a lot of land we're going to be running pipelines to, drilling into to inject it, using heavy machinery etc.
And if some of it does end up being released due to a mistake, it can have potentially deadly effects. Like what happened at Lake Nyos. Safety would really have to be guaranteed.
I don't know, it just sounds like a solution that won't scale to the enormity of the climate problems, and rather more like big business wanting to monetise the problem itself (and also use it as an excuse to not reduce consumption).
But anyway, if it does prove itself in trials I would change my mind on it.