What : World’s largest plant that has been designed to suck carbon dioxide (CO2) from air and turn it into rock

Where : Iceland

DETAILS

• Icelandic word “orka” means energy
• Who constructed the plant : Switzerland’s Clime works and Iceland’s Carbfix.
• Plant’s capacity
• When the plant will operate at its full capacity, it will draw 4,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) from air every year.
• As per US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this amount is equal to the emissions from about 870 cars.

How CO2 will be collected:

• Pant uses fans to draw air into the collector comprising of filter material inside
• Once the filter material is filled with carbon dioxide, collector is closed and temperature is raised to release the carbon dioxide from the material.
• Following this process, highly concentrated gas can be collected. Collected CO2 is mixed with water and are injected at a depth of 1,000 metres into nearby basalt rock where it is petrified.

Significance of the plant: As per the proponents of carbon capture and storage (CCS), these technologies can become a major tool towards the fight against climate change.

What are the concerns: This technology is still prohibitively expensive and will take decades to operate at larger scale.