Researchers in Iceland found a new way of tackling climate change by pumping carbon dioxide underground and turning it into stone. Other carbon capture and storage methods store carbon dioxide as a gas. But problems include a high cost and concern about leaks. This new method of burying carbon dioxide and turning it into stone is cheaper and more secure, the Guardian reports. To turn carbon dioxide into stone, researchers with the CarbFix project pumped the gas into volcanic rock and sped up the natural process, in which the volcanic rock reacts with gas and forms carbon minerals. The gas turned into solid in just two years, much faster than the hundreds or thousands of years researchers had predicted. The research took place at Iceland’s Hellscheidi power plant. Already, the project in Iceland has been increased in scale to bury 10,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year. One potential difficulty is that for each ton of carbon dioxide buried, the technique requires 25 tons of water. However, the lead researcher said sea water could be used.

Q3: What new method has been developed to help fight climate change?
Q4: What is a potential difficulty in applying the new technique?