Pilot project paves way to storing CO<sub>2</sub> underground as minerals in arid countries

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25 March 2026 Pilot project paves way to storing CO 2 underground as minerals in arid countries Carbon dioxide has been turned into minerals in Earth’s subsurface using recirculating water flow — a viable way to sequester this greenhouse gas in water-scarce areas. By Juliane Weber ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7961-0220 0 Juliane Weber Juliane Weber is in the Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, USA. View author publications PubMed Google Scholar

Many countries agree that carbon dioxide will need to be stored deep underground in the next two to three decades to mitigate increases in atmospheric CO 2 levels. One method for doing this involves dissolving CO 2 in water and injecting the solution into porous rock in Earth’s subsurface, where it reacts to form solid carbonate minerals. However, the amount of water used in previously tested processes is 20–50 times the mass of the CO 2 that is sequestered, limiting the feasibility of the process in regions that have limited water supplies. Writing in Nature, Oelkers et al.1 report the first pilot demonstration of an industrial process in which the injected water is recirculated — greatly reducing the water demand and opening up CO 2 storage as an environmentally feasible strategy for mitigating climate change, even in arid regions.

Nature 651, 891-892 (2026)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-00635-4

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Competing Interests The author declares no competing interests.

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