Tuesday 14 June 2016

Matthew Liang's Independent Learning Log 5


Learning Log 5

Date:15/6/16

Week:3

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36494501


What I did: I wanted to look for some articles about science and experimenting, so I back to BBC and found this article which shows a way to constrain carbon dioxide emissions by turning them to stone.

Words I did not know:

Basalts-a dark gray to black dense to fine-grained igneous rock that consists of basic plagioclase, augite, and usually magnetite.

What I learnt:

- Although this method is effective in trapping carbon dioxide, it has disadvantages. For example,capture of the CO2 at power stations and other industrial complexes is expensive. Secondly, substantial water is needed as only 5% of the mass sent underground is carbon dioxide.


Summary:

There was an experiment in Iceland whereby carbon dioxide and water are pumped underground into a volcanic rock.They react with the minerals in the deep basalts convert the carbon dioxide to a stable, immobile chalky solid.The speed that this process occurs is fast as 95% of the 220 tonnes of injected CO2 was converted to limestone in less than two years. Previous experiments have seen pure CO2 injected into sandstone, or deep, salty aquifers, but the fear is always that the CO2 could find a way to leak back out into the atmosphere.

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