The power of rock should never be underestimated, but in this case I'm not pondering the electricity consumed by one of the nation's premiere outdoor music festivals -- or even the phenomenon that occurs when you crank your amp up to 11. I'm talking about literal rock here, the igneous variety to be specific, andscientists think it can save the planet.Peridotite rock, found predominately in the earth's mantle, can actually "soak up" the CO2 emissions floating in our atmosphere. In a nutshell, when this magical rock comes into contact with CO2, the gas is converted into solid minerals like calcite. Sweet. Scientists Peter Kelemen and Juerg Matter have even come up with a plan to store at least 2 billion tons of the carbon emissions that humans produce each year (about 30 billion tons are produced worldwide). According to these guys, working out of Columbia University, they could kick start the rock's carbon storage potential by boring deep into the rock in Oman -- where it meets the surface -- and inject pressurized carbon mixed with hot water.
Currently, the scientists have filed for a patent and are researching the viability of peridotite storage on a commercial scale.
No comments:
Post a Comment