Norway to explore mineral-based carbon capture

Norway may have already established itself as one of the global leaders in the practice of capturing carbon dioxide and pumping it underground, but now the country is looking to become a leader in the development of new technologies capable of storing the gas in usable minerals and chemicals.

Nordic Mining announced yesterday that it has signed a research alliance with energy giant StatoilHydro that will see the two companies co-operate on a pilot project to use CO2 in the processing of various minerals and the treatment of mine tailings.

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, Nordic Mining chief executive Ivar S Fossum said that the two companies were looking at potential sites in western Norway close to both mineral deposits and carbon-emitting industrial facilities for a pilot facility.

He said that initial research would focus on the company's deposits of anorthosite – a low-value mineral that previous studies has shown can be split into higher-value aluminium oxide, selisium and calcium carbonate when carbon dioxide is added at the right temperature and pressure.

"The process captures the carbon dioxide by binding it to the minerals," explained Fossum. "If we can get this right, aluminium oxide can be used as a feedstock for aluminium, selesium can be used in tyre production or as a feedstock for solar cells or electronics components, and calcium carbonate can be used in paper production."

He added that as well as having commercial value the company could potentially use the mineral-capturing process as a basis to sell carbon credits.

Capturing carbon dioxide in minerals may prove more complex than simply pumping it in liquid form into subterranean geological formations, but Fossum argued that it has a number of benefits, not least because the chemical reactions involved mean there is no risk of carbon dioxide leaking back into the atmosphere.

Should the initial phase of the project prove successful, Nordic Mining and StatoilHydro are also planning to work together on a similar project to bind carbon dioxide to waste mine tailings. Fossum said that the resulting minerals would likely have no commercial value, but the captured carbon could result in the issuing of carbon credits that could be sold on the carbon market.