Extreme problems call for extreme solutions and, with atmospheric damage on the rise from our ever-increasing CO2 emissions, it’s no wonder scientists and researchers are looking for new and unique ways to sequester this potentially dangerous gas. David Goldberg, director of Borehole Research at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Colombia University says that he has a solution: put the emissions under the ocean. More specifically, trap the unwanted CO2 in hardened lava erupted from undersea volcanoes and fissures, also known as basalt.
It’s no joke-there’s even a method to the madness. The process involves pumping liquid CO2 into basalt resting under 8,850 ft. of sea water. To do this, the CO2 is first transported to the ocean floor, then it’s pumped down another 650 ft. or so of sediment. Finally, it’s injected into the open pores of basalt, causing it to dissolve in the sea water and create a chemical reaction.
Goldberg says the process would simply accelerate the natural weathering that already happens to basalt in the ocean. “The reason we want it to happen is because when the chemical reaction occurs, the result is a chalk, iron, calcium or magnesium carbonate that are filling solids. These are permanent in the sense that they are filling what was open pore space with rock,” he says.
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