Rio Tinto, Carbfix collaborates for carbon capture and storage at ISAL smelter area

The global metal giant Rio Tinto partners with Carbfix, the provider of natural and permanent storage solutions by turning CO2 into stone underground in less than two years, to implement a technology for capturing carbon and permanently storing it underground at the ISAL aluminium smelter in Iceland.

The MoU for a strategic partnership reveals that Carbfix will use Rio Tinto’s land surrounding the ISAL smelter for onshore CO2 injection in the world’s first carbon mineral storage hub, the Coda Terminal, while liquefied CO2 will be imported by ship from industrial sites across North Europe for storage.

Rio Tinto visions ISAL as an ideal site to become the first smelter where carbon capture and storage is implemented in the aluminium industry. Both the parties will work together to advance carbon capture solutions that are already being tested in production cells at ISAL, with a focus on using the Carbfix technology to further decarbonise the plant.

Edda Sif Aradottir, the CEO of Carbfix said: “The world’s climate goals will not be met without large scale deployment of carbon capture and storage. Partnering with Rio Tinto will allow Carbfix to take a significant step forward in developing the world’s first carbon mineral storage hub, so our technology can make a sizeable contribution to global climate efforts.”

Ivan Vella, Rio Tinto Aluminium Chief Executive said: “The innovative technology developed by Carbfix provides a pathway towards further decarbonisation of aluminium production at our ISAL smelter, which already produces low carbon aluminium using renewable energy. We will be working together to tackle the technical challenges to progress the carbon capture solution that we have begun trialling at ISAL. Beyond this, we will look for opportunities to apply Carbfix's technology for decarbonisation across Rio Tinto's operations, complementing other innovations such as our ELYSIS partnership for zero-carbon aluminium smelting."

All the IPCC pathways to 1.5°C require deep reductions in emissions and include carbon dioxide removals technologies. Hence, Rio Tinto is prioritising emissions reductions at mines and smelters, while it is also exploring the potential role of carbon capture and mineralisation.

The first injection wells for the Coda Terminal are to be drilled in 2022 as proposed by Carfix, with shipments of CO2 starting in 2025.

The Carbfix technology expeditiously transforms CO2 injected into geological formations to solid carbonate minerals by stimulating natural processes. The only raw materials used is water, electricity and favourable bedrock such as the basalts surrounding the ISAL site in Iceland.

The academic-industrial partner Carbfix has captured more than 70,000 metric tonnes of carbon from a power plant in Iceland since 2014 and permanently stored it. Lately, Carbfix commissioned the world’s largest direct air capture and CO2 storage system together with its partner Climeworks.