Neuron

Geothermal areas of Iceland are absolutely breathtaking. There´s a lot of them and they are all different, so exploring these geothermal areas are one of the most exciting things you can do in Iceland. Very often, somewhere in the vicinity of these areas you will find a geothermal power plant, that converts this natural heat into energy for us to consume. An amazing project has been running since 2007, called CarbFix. Essentially, it involves technique of binding carbon dioxide gas as a mineral in local basalt rock in a fraction of the time. Carbon dioxide gas emitted from the power station is injected into water and then pumped deep down into basaltic rocks. Carbonated water is acidic. The more carbon you can pack into water, the more acidic the fluid will become. Carbonated water burns the rock underground forcing it to release elements such as calcium, magnesium and iron. In time, these elements will combine with the dissolved CO2 and form carbonates filling up the empty space in the basaltic rock underground. The carbonates are stable for thousands of years and can thus be considered permanently stored. The timescale of this process initially surprised the scientists as it was determined that 95% of the injected CO2 mineralizes within two years, much faster than previously thought. So far they have managed to inject back into the rocks nearly 65,500 metric tonnes of CO2.

Hengill area

DJI Mavic 2

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