A firm in Iceland is pioneering cutting-edge technology that turns CO2 into stone – promising a boost to the global fight against climate change and its devastating consequences.
Carbfix takes the greenhouse emissions from industrial plants and dissolves them in water, which is then injected deep underground into porous rock formations such as volcanic basalt, where it mineralises, filling the voids.
The company describes the technique as “Mother Nature’s way” of carbon storage, providing a safe and permanent natural depot for the polluting gas.
Image: The company is looking to significantly expand its operations. Pic: Carbfix
Image: Pic: Carbfix
Carbfix is now looking to significantly expand its operations highlighting the potential worldwide.
The UK’s climate is warming along with the global average and last year saw 40C for the first time on record – grassfires destroyed dozens of properties and there were more than 3,000 excess deaths during the heatwaves.
Speaking to Sky News, Carbfix’s head of business development Kristinn Ingi Larusson described the process as “relatively straightforward and simple”.
He said: “What we do is we dissolve CO2 in water and inject it back into the bedrock where it actually mineralises and stays for millennia.
“So we are therefore contributing to the climate battle issue that all of us are facing.”
Mr Larusson pointed out basalt, one of the three “ingredients” needed along with CO2 and water, made up 5% of the world’s landmass and 70% of the ocean floor.
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He said: “The simple analogy is you are using the water as the means of transport.
“Water is the train and the CO2 is simply the passenger on the train.
“The water carries on, but the passenger jumps off the train and stays in the bedrock.”
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‘Worryingly slow’ progress on net zero
Holding up a piece of bedrock following the process showing white dots, Mr Larusson said: “These are actually solid carbons that have been mineralised and will stay there forever.
“It is Mother Nature’s way of storing.
“Over 90% of all stored CO2 on earth is actually in the ground below us.
“So what we are doing, we are simply replicating what Mother Nature has done for millions of years.
“The only difference is that we are speeding the process up. We’re not adding any chemicals or substances. This is simply water and CO2.
He added: “We have a solution. We don’t claim this is the silver bullet, but it definitely is a technology that we should look at.
“Our objective, is to scale up and commercialise the idea.”
Stressing the urgency of the situation, he said: “We don’t have time. We have to act now, otherwise we are in a very catastrophic scenario.”
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The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 46% from 1990 levels, mainly because of the removal of coal from electricity generation.
The government has pledged to reduce emissions by 68% by 2030 but a climate watchdog this week branded the pace of action as “worryingly slow”, raising concerns over the rate of decarbonisation in industry, transport, buildings and fuel supply.
The Climate Change Committee (CCC) said since the UK government was ordered to be more transparent about its net zero plans the less likely it appeared it would meet the legally-binding environmental target.
Lord Deben said his last update as chairman of the CCC was “not a report that suggests satisfactory progress” and accused ministers of wasting time by shying away from taking difficult decisions.
Watch The Climate Show with Tom Heap on Saturday and Sunday at 3pm and 7.30pm on Sky News, on the Sky News website and app, and on YouTube and Twitter.
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A New York-listed company with a valuation of more than $21bn is to snap up Space NK, the British high street beauty chain.
Sky News has learnt that Ulta Beauty, which operates close to 1,500 stores, is on the verge of a deal to buy Space NK from existing owner Manzanita Capital.
Ulta Beauty is understood to have registered an acquisition vehicle at Companies House in recent weeks.
Royal Mail had repeatedly failed to meet the so-called universal service obligation to deliver post within set periods of time.
Those delivery targets are now being revised downwards.
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Rather than having to have 93% of first-class mail delivered the next day, 90% will be legally allowed.
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The sale of Royal Mail was approved in December
The target for second-class mail deliveries will be lowered from 98.5% to arrive within three working days to 95%.
A review of stamp prices has also been announced by Ofcom amid concerns over affordability, with a consultation set to be launched next year.
It’s good news for Royal Mail and its new owner, the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky. Ofcom estimates the changes will bring savings of between £250m and £425m.
A welcome change?
Unsurprisingly, the company welcomed the announcement.
“It is good news for customers across the UK as it supports the delivery of a reliable, efficient and financially sustainable universal service,” said Martin Seidenberg, the group chief executive of Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distribution Services.
“It follows extensive consultation with thousands of people and businesses to ensure that the postal service better reflects their needs and the realities of how customers send and receive mail today.”
Citizens Advice, however, doubted whether services would improve as a result of the changes.
“Today, Ofcom missed a major opportunity to bring about meaningful change,” said Tom MacInnes, the director of policy at Citizens Advice.
“Pushing ahead with plans to slash services and relax delivery targets in the name of savings won’t automatically make letter deliveries more reliable or improve standards.”
Acknowledging long delays “where letters have taken weeks to arrive”, Ofcom said it set Royal Mail new enforceable targets so 99% of mail has to be delivered no more than two days late.
Changing habits
Less than a third of letters are sent now than 20 years ago, and it is forecast to fall to about a fifth of the letters previously sent.
According to Ofcom research, people want reliability and affordability more than speedy delivery.
Royal Mail has been loss-making in recent years as revenues fell.
In response to Ofcom’s changes, a government spokesperson said: “The public expects a well-run postal service, with letters arriving on time across the country without it costing the earth. With the way people use postal services having changed, it’s right the regulator has looked at this.
“We now need Royal Mail to work with unions and posties to deliver a service that people expect, and this includes maintaining the principle of one price to send a letter anywhere in the UK”.
Ofcom said it has told Royal Mail to hold regular meetings with consumer bodies and industry groups to hear their experiences implementing the changes.
An industry body has warned that the equivalent of more than one pub a day is set to close across Great Britain this year.
According to the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), an estimated 378 venues will shut down across England, Wales and Scotland.
This would amount to more than 5,600 direct job losses, the industry body warns. It has called for a reduction in the cumulative tax and regulatory burden for the hospitalitysector – including cutting business rates and beer duty.
The body – representing members that brew 90% of British beer and own more than 20,000 pubs – said such measures would slow the rate at which bars are closing.
BBPA chief executive Emma McClarkin said that while pubs are trading well, “most of the money that goes into the till goes straight back out in bills and taxes”.
“For many, it’s impossible to make a profit, which all too often leads to pubs turning off the lights for the last time,” she said.
“When a pub closes, it puts people out of a job, deprives communities of their heart and soul, and hurts the local economy.”
She urged the government to “proceed with meaningful business rates reform, mitigate these eye-watering new employment and EPR (extended producer responsibility) costs, and cut beer duty”.
“We’re not asking for special treatment, we just want the sector’s rich potential unleashed,” she added.
The government has said it plans to reform the current business rates system, saying in March that an interim report on the measure would be published this summer.
From April, relief on property tax – that came in following the COVID-19 pandemic – was cut from 75% to 40%, leading to higher bills for hospitality, retail and leisure businesses.
The rate of employer National Insurance Contributions also rose from 13.8% to 15% that month, and the wage threshold was lowered from £9,100 to £5,000, under measures announced by Rachel Reeves in the October budget.