Medusa-scientists solve carbon dioxide problems. Maybe. (Journal, open access)

Rapid carbon mineralization for permanent disposal of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions 

Matter et al., 2016  Science 352 (6291), 1312-1314.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) provides a solution toward decarbonisation of the global economy. The success of this solution depends on the ability to safely and permanently store CO₂. This study demonstrates for the first time the permanent disposal of CO₂ as environmentally benign carbonate minerals in basaltic rocks. We find that over 95% of the CO₂ injected into the CarbFix site in Iceland was mineralised to carbonate minerals in less than 2 years. This result contrasts with the common view that the immobilisation of CO₂ as carbonate minerals within geologic reservoirs takes several hundreds to thousands of years. Our results, therefore, demonstrate that the safe long-term storage of anthropogenic CO₂ emissions through mineralization can be far faster than previously postulated.

The scaling up of this basaltic carbon storage method requires substantial quantities of water and porous basaltic rocks.

Key questions (to my mind) - How much does it cost?  - What, if any, are the side-effects? - Is it more effective than tackling the causes of the problem?

Want a summary?  'Experiment 'turns waste CO2 to stone' news report  Or you might be able to listen to a BBC world service story about it here, including interview with the lead scientist, Juerg Matter (0.27 - to 5.55 mins).