Research progress on key technologies of CO2 storage in basalts

Geological storage of CO2 in basalts provides a new and potentially significant option for carbon capture and storage (CCS). So far, there are only three demonstration projects in the world, namely Nagaoka in Japan, Wallula in the United States of America and Carbfix in Iceland. These examples have confirmed the technical and economic feasibility of geological storage of CO2 in basalts. The main progress achieved on the technology of CO2 capture and storage in basalts are as follows (1) CO2 in flue gas can be better captured by using aqueous solution instead of amine solvent, so that CO2 and other water-soluble gases are easily captured at the same time, while equipment such as scrubbing tower is just simply installed as a gas separation device near the emission point source. (2) The Carbfix method suitable for CO2 saturated solution injection and storage is proposed, and a special system which can inject gas and water solution respectively is designed. (3) In the process of CO2 injection and sequestration, t