For decades, scientists have searched for ways to keep carbon dioxide (CO₂) out of the atmosphere after it is produced. Cutting emissions remains the most effective way to slow climate change, but some industries, including cement, steel, and geothermal energy, continue to release large amounts of CO₂ that are difficult to eliminate completely. Rather than storing that carbon gas in underground reservoirs where it must be monitored for leaks, researchers in Iceland have been testing a different approach: turning it into solid rock. Since 2012, the Carbfix project has injected captured CO₂ deep into volcanic basalt formations, where natural chemical reactions transform the gas into stable minerals. According to the journal Frontiers for Young Minds , this process mimics a geological reaction that normally takes thousands of years but accelerates it so the carbon becomes stone within just a few years under the right conditions.
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