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The factory on the island state in the extreme northwest of Europe is located about 30 kilometers southeast of the capital Rekyjavik. The simple, gray metal construction stands alone in the bare grass and rocky landscape. The air stinks of sulfur. For visitors, the meaning is hardly recognizable at first sight. The filtration system, which opened in Hellisheiði in 2021, is the first such operation in the world. Proponents call it a “milestone in the fight against climate change”.
The system sucks in air roaring with dozens of large fans and sends it through a filter. The filter is freed from the CO2 present in it by heat from the volcanic subsoil. The extracted greenhouse gas is later mixed with water and pressed several hundred meters deep into the ground in the basalt rock – where it petrifies.
The two projects to filter CO2 and store it underground show how innovative Switzerland can be, President Alain Berset said on Tuesday during a visit to the Keystone-SDA news agency. It is not the only decisive solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but a promising part of a package of measures.
During a meeting with Icelandic Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Berset stated that he wanted to strengthen cooperation on the climate issue. “We want to intensify that,” he said. But it takes time. He gave no specific information.
The filtration system called “Orca” in Iceland is operated by the Swiss company Climeworks. It is a spin-off company of ETH Zurich, founded in 2009. Although little known to the general public, experts say such systems are a necessary part of climate policy.
In 2019, the Federal Council decided with the so-called “net zero” target that Switzerland should not emit more greenhouse gases by 2050 than natural or technical storage facilities can absorb. In order for Switzerland to meet the emissions target, it must offset the remaining greenhouse gas emissions, for example from traffic or cement production, using such negative emission technologies.
In Switzerland, based on the target of the Federal Council – provided that emissions are massively reduced in all sectors – from 2050 onwards, approximately a dozen million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year will probably have to be neutralized through CO2 capture, utilization and storage and negative emissions.
The testing facility in Iceland is a drop in the ocean. It removes only 4,000 tons of CO2 from the air each year. 3,000 such systems would be needed to compensate for the unsaveable CO2 in Switzerland.
A facility called Mammoth, which is ten times the size, is already being built in the immediate vicinity of Orca. Construction work started last summer.
In addition to the CO2 suction dredger, there is a second installation in Hellisheiði in Iceland, in which Switzerland is involved. In the Demoupcarma demonstration project led by ETH Zurich, CO2 is transported in tank containers from the Bern wastewater treatment plant by truck, rail and ship to Iceland, where it is permanently stored in a geological reservoir. The CO2 is injected into the rock where it binds to minerals in the rock. The Swiss Confederation contributes about 50 percent of the project costs.
Iceland is ideal for such plants, says Marco Mazzotti, professor of process engineering at ETH Zurich, the Keystone-SDA news agency. The main island of Iceland is the largest volcanic island in the world and, with its many basalt rocks, has favorable geological properties for the storage of CO2 extracted from the air. The volcanic subsoil also provides the necessary cheap thermal energy for the functioning of plants.
In Switzerland, on the other hand, there are currently no such CO2 storage sites. The potential is very limited because of the different geology, Mazzotti said. Nevertheless, possible positions are being sought.
Meanwhile, politicians in Switzerland are planning their own infrastructure for CO2 transport and storage. However, the role of the federal government, cantons and industry in the development, the most user-friendly financing and the legal framework is still unclear. The Federal Council plans to examine concrete proposals by the end of 2024.
(SDA)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
