The latest Big Idea for storing CO2 from carbon capture and sequestration or CCS (still a technology in development) is to force it into basalt, which is volcanic rock. This rock is plentiful off the U.S. east coast, where 1/4 of Americans live. But obviously not the whole country lives on the east coast, so this basalt won’t help anyone else in the country, unless they can move the basalt.  Also, many people who live on the coasts might be moving inland as climate change escalates in future decades.

Reportedly, basalt can absorb a huge amount of CO2 (though not all that we emit for the next 100 years)  and after it’s absorbed, it turns into a limestone-like rock.  That means there is no danger of the CO2 escaping. The problem with this seemingly good idea is that they aren’t even started on this yet, it’s merely an idea, and we don’t have time to depend on unproven technologies to mitigate climate change at this late date. We are in a climate crisis situation, trying to avoid tipping points, and this process and technology development is yet to be made and implemented. The Waxman-Markey bill devotes more money to CCS, inexplicably, than renewable energy, but that doesn’t mean we have to throw money away on this now. We can throw money away on it later. It would make more sense now to put money into things we know will work to try to get the carbon dioxide levels down as quickly as possible. CCS could take 20-30 years to develop and then there is no guarantee it can be done on a large enough scale to have the necessary impact.

This is discussed in the latest Climate Files podcast and the article below from SolveClimate.   The article’s author claims:

A July 2008 study by the same researchers found that 208 billion metric tons could be stored in the offshore basalt formations of the U.S. Northwest’s Juan de Fuca tectonic plate — that is as much as 150 years’ worth of U.S. emissions. . . . . In a study released Monday, ABI Research predicted that new CCS projects will keep 146 million tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Their estimates are based on markets for carbon emissions allowances encouraging firms to seek out technologies like CCS to limit their emissions.

The problem with that claim is that the U.S. emits about  7.1 billion metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) of greenhouse gases per year,  (my estimate of 5.7 billion metric tons in the podcast was low) and that means only about 34 years of U.S. emissions could be forced into basalt, if the procedure even works.  Considering that our emissions have to peak and then taper off starting in about 10 years or less, and the technology might not be developed for 20 or more years, it’s hard to see where planning to store CO2 in basalt gets us.  Look at all the money they want to [...]