Carbon Storage: RAZOR
CGTN Europe went to the Hellisheidi power plant near Reykjavik to see how the carbon capture and storage works via the Carbfix method, see the video above. Interview and news report by Emma Keeling published in September 22, 2019.
It's no secret that global CO₂ emissions are alarmingly high. Some estimates suggest they could be as much as 37 billion metric tons per year. The issue is so urgent that scientists are suggesting temperatures will rise by 3 degrees Celsius by 2100.
Scientists in Iceland have pioneered a process called CarbFix, which captures CO₂ and other sour gases caused by emissions and permanently stores them underground as rock.
"Environmental impact of volcanic eruptions"
Invited talk and discussion session at the Goldshmidt 2020 conference. Theme 15: Geochemistry and Society – Focused Sessions and Debate.
This talk was presented on 22 June 2020, followed by a debate and discussion which you can find here on my website site.
The second part of the talk is focused on the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull Iceland eruption, that closed the air-traffic in Western Europe for a week.
Below you can find videos when driving though the volcanic plumes.
Ring of Fire – Geochemistry and GeoHazards
Invited talk and discussion session at the Goldshmidt 2020 conference. Theme 15: Geochemistry and Society – Focused Sessions and Debates.
Seventy-five percent of Earth’s volcanoes—more than 450—are located along or within the Ring of Fire. Ninety percent of Earth’s earthquakes and associated tsunamis occur along its path. This year Hawaii is marking the second anniversary of one of the largest and most destructive volcanic eruptions in its history (and the costliest in USA history) and Australia has been ravaged by the worst wildfires in decades. How do these events and other GeoHazards impact ecosystems, environments, and human health? Can geoscientists reduce associated risks? Are there ways to forecast, warn, prepare and adapt to these and other geohazards? A panel of experts and high-profile scientists will discuss these and similar questions in this session. Presentation in this session is by invitation only.
Driving through the volcanic plume from Eyjafjallajökull Iceland.
These videos were documented by Sigurður Reynir Gíslason on April 15, 2010, and later on edited by Birnir Jón Sigurðsson. Here above you can see two frames showcasing time-laps, with 3 min offset. Contrasting the 3 min difference between visibility.
These videos were documented by Sigurður Reynir Gíslason on April 15, 2010, and later on edited by Birnir Jón Sigurðsson. This video is the long version cut down to 35 min.
These videos were documented by Sigurður Reynir Gíslason on April 15, 2010, and later on edited by Birnir Jón Sigurðsson. Time-lapse of 1 min drive though the plume, underscoring the darkness when entering in the center of the plume at 11:52 during midday.
Plenary talk at the Goldschmidt conference - 23 June 2020
Reaching out to the Art and Design community
Title of the talk “How can We Balance the Short-Term Carbon Cycle during the 21st Century?“, presented by Sigurdur Reynir Gislason the presented of the European Association of Geochemistry.
Invited keynote for the Iceland University of the Arts. The lecture, titled "How can we balance the global carbon cycle during the 21st century?" was streamed online 10th of January 2021, and was open to the public.
The lecture is the beginning of a MA Design course called Carbon Geomancy, more about that here: carbongeomancy.cargo.site/
Carbfix – Að binda koltvíoxíð í bergi
Carbfix-verkefnið, sem vísindamenn Háskóla Íslands og Orkuveitu Reykjavíkur hafa unnið að í yfir áratug ásamt erlendu samstarfsfólki, hlaut í gær (27.maí 2020) Nýsköpunarverðlaun evrópska jarðhitaráðsins (EGEC, the European Geothermal Energy Council) árið 2020. Verðlaunin eru veitt aðilum fyrir framúrskarandi framlag á sviði jarðvarma í formi nýsköpunar, rannsókna eða nýstárlegra verkefna.
Samtal á Sunnudagsmorgni á Rás 1, 19. Júlí 2020.
Sjálfsagt er rétt og skynsamlegt að huga að framtíðinni á öllum tímum. Tímamót af einhverju tagi eru oft hvati til þess. Þau tímamót geta verið af ýmsum toga, í lífi þjóða eða mannkynsins, eða bara persónuleg. Á Rás 1 Ríkisútvarpsins hefur um allmörg ár verið vettvangur fyrir samtal við fræðimenn á ýmsum sviðum á sunnudagsmorgnum. Fyrirkomulag umræðunnar hefur verið þannig, að umsjónarmaður þáttanna hefur fengið kunnáttumann á einhverju ákveðnu sviði til þess að ræða við gesti, aðra sérfróða. Nú er komið að tímamótum í þessu, í júlí og ágúst verða síðustu Samtalsþættir undir stjórn Ævars Kjartanssonar. Hann ætlar að fá til sín gesti til þess að ræða um framtíðina eins og hún blasir við þeim og á þeirra fræðisviði í lok heimsfaraldurs. Hefur veirufaraldur eins og Covid -19 áhrif á líf okkar í framtíðnni? Erum við að upplifa raunveruleg tímamót?
Umsjón: Ævar Kjartansson. Gestur þáttarins var Sigurður Reynir Gíslason, jarðvísindamaður við Jarðvísindastofnun Háskóla Íslands, sem vinnur m.a. að binda koltvíoxíð.
Carbon Capture by Forming Stable Carbonate Minerals
Carbfix is an academic-industrial partnership that has developed a novel approach to capture and store CO2 by its dissolution in water and its injection into subsurface basalts. Once in the subsurface, the injected CO2 reacts with the host rock forming stable carbonate minerals, thus providing for the safe, long-term storage of the captured gas.
The CO2 is captured either by its dissolution in water from power plants, or directly from the atmosphere by air capture, followed by its dissolution in water. The carbonated water is injected into the subsurface where it reacts with the Ca, Mg and Fe present in the rock. These metals are abundant in basaltic minerals such as Mg-rich olivine mineral which can react with CO2, as shown by the reaction below, to form stable Mg-carbonate mineral magnesite and quarts.
Mg2SiO4 + 2CO2 _ 2MgCO3 + SiO2
This way, CO2 is locked away for thousands of years with no dangerous by-products. CarbFix was initiated in 2007 by scientists from University of Iceland, Reykjavk Energy Iceland, Columbia University NY USA and CNRS Toulouse France. The aim was to develop an industrial process of carbon capture and storage as minerals in reactive rocks. The thrust of the work has been carried out by PhD students and postdoc, to ensure rapid dissemination of this new technology to future generations.