Giant fans to suck CO2 from the air

[Keit]

Here's something for either the category of "what could go wrong", or the category of "moronic inventions". Or maybe both

In summary, a Swiss start-up installed giant fans in Iceland near a volcano to suck CO2 from the air, then mix it with water and bury it underground.

"Mammoth" carbon capture facility launches in Iceland, expanding one tool in the climate change arsenal

Climeworks, a Swiss pioneer in the fast-growing field of CO2 capture and storage, launches operations at a new site on a dormant volcano.

www.cbsnews.com

With Mammoth's 72 industrial fans, Swiss start-up Climeworks intends to suck almost 40,000 tons of CO2 from the air annually to bury underground, vying to prove the technology has a place in the fight against global warming. Mammoth, the largest carbon dioxide capture and storage facility of its kind, launched operations this week situated on a dormant volcano in Iceland.

How does Climeworks capture CO2?​

Just 31 miles from an active volcano, the seemingly risky site was chosen for its proximity to the Hellisheidi geothermal energy plant necessary to power the facility's fans and heat chemical filters to extract CO2 with water vapor.

The CO2 is then separated from the steam and compressed in a hangar where huge pipes crisscross.

Finally, the gas is dissolved in water and pumped underground with a "sort of giant SodaStream," said Bergur Sigfusson, chief system development officer for Carbfix, which developed the process.

A well, drilled under a futuristic-looking dome, injects the water 2,300 feet down into the volcanic basalt that makes up 90% of Iceland's subsoil, where it reacts with the magnesium, calcium and iron in the rock to form crystals — solid reservoirs of CO2.

 

[mkrnhr]

These "CO2 suc**rs" want to create artificial fossil fuel for the future, very nice.

 

[Keit]

These "CO2 suc**rs" want to create artificial fossil fuel for the future, very nice.

So you are saying that they are actually doing something good?

 

[mkrnhr]

They're making us laugh with their stupid ideas, which is good. They're also making us ashamed to belong to these dark ages, which is good to keep our sense of self-importance under control, which is good too. Therefore, we should be thankful to these idiots with university diplomas and hope they don't get swallowed in lava, we need them :D

 

[Breo]

To shift the view of such destructive concepts into a humorous positive view with meaning and wisdom, that's really teaching. Thank you for the reminder.

 

[Honzap]

We will know it worked when all plants in the area die due to lack of CO2.

The only thing I am wondering about is whether the scientists behind this idea will be able to connect the dots afterwards or they are beyond saving.

 

[Nienna]

Here's something for either the category of "what could go wrong", or the category of "moronic inventions". Or maybe both

How about, "Moronic inventions - what could go wrong?"

These people need to be educated on just what CO2 is and what is wrong with their human driven global warming schtik. I guess that wouldn't work since there is a ton of information out there already and they are authoritarian followers doing what they can to get kudos from their "idols". It's disgusting.

 

[XPan]

We will know it worked when all plants in the area die due to lack of CO2.

The only thing I am wondering about is whether the scientists behind this idea will be able to connect the dots afterwards or they are beyond saving.

What if...

My thinking goes into the opposite direction; like many "techniques", there is a difference between what is officially tought - and what actually works in practice (may not be so foolproof as claimed. We usually don't see those underpinnings at first glance). Let me assume, that this CO2 sucking-in technique goes wrong at some point, given that they work with high pressure... So, what happens if huge amounts of concentrated CO2 suddenly reaches / or leak into low lands or part of cities etc ? Silently, without smell or visible appearance... Wouldn't animals, people as well plants die ?

They are in for the money. So, while the money and champagne flows at "higher" levels, in practice at the ground where installations are to be created, built, maintained and surveilled... - things often get a bit fuzzy, far less accurate than what the paper tell you... This is where accidents and disaster can / do happen.

The natural equivalent of such events (when going really wrong) would be something like the African lake Kivu in the Republic of Kongo bordering Rwanda, or the Lake Nyos disaster in 1986 (Cameroon) which released according to Wikipedia 100.000 to 300.000 tons of carbon dioxide suffocating people and livestock within 25 km of the lake. (almost 2000 people died) Judging from the image below... also plants died.

Stockholm City via the company "Stockholm Exergi" makes advertising with big fanfare, about capturing 800.000 ton CO2 from the air annually - as "the first city in the world" (starting 2027). What happens, if something goes wrong with that pressurized, fluid CO2 deep down in the ground... given that 800.000 ton is a lot more than Lake Nyos released in 1986... Just saying.

Well, in Greta Land you can sell anything "eco" with murderous advertising.


29 Aug 1986, less than 1 month after the limnic eruption at Lake Nyos

Lake Nyos disaster - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Limnic eruption - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[seek10]

I guess every body doing their part in the giant circus called "Climate Change" due to carbon emissions. Climate change is true (due to cosmic factors), Co2 cause is nonsense. But the money is there and desire to make something for it there, So the show has to continue.

 

[Ricardo]

Cover for something else ? ie make planet un-inhabitable for humans ? it does read as a skit from monthy python though.