Saturday, September 15, 2007

Basalt Carbon Storage

There was an interesting article in today's Tricycle Herald about using the abundant Columbia Basin Basalt for carbon sequestration. Basalt is somewhat notorious for being full of fractures so I wondered what would keep the CO2 from leaking out. But it seems that CO2 and basalt react to produce a stable mineral that locks away the carbon. It's calcium carbonate actually, more commonly known as limestone. The porosity of basalt is an advantage here. CO2 has long been injected into oilfields to extend their production. The caprocks that have kept the oil from leaching out over millions of years also keep the CO2 contained.

Potential basalt sites are extensive in the Northwest as well as in some other parts of the country.

The tricky part, it seems to me, is the capture and transportation of the CO2 to the depositories.

No comments: