New Report: A Rock That Can Soak Up Carbon Dioxide

A new report by scientists shows that a rare type of rock found mostly in Oman can actually help remove carbon dioxide from the air in much the same way that a tree can. When the rock, peridotite, comes in contact with carbon dioxide, it hardens the gas into a solid form like calcite (similar to limestone or chalk). Although it doesn’t seem like this would be of much use on the surface, if scientists speed up this naturally occurring process 1 million times, then it could potentially grow underground minerals that would store 2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide. This technique would not only be less expensive than current technologies, but would be a safer way to keep CO2 out of the atmosphere as well. Although we won’t be able to use this much in North America, it may provide an easy way to trap CO2 right at the source of the oil and gas industry before it leaks further into the atmosphere.