Faroe Islands at the forefront of international CO2 storage research

Researchers from around the world are gathering in the Faroe Islands this week to conduct experiments on storing CO2 in basalt rock, as part of efforts to help achieve global carbon neutrality, according to Faroese public broadcaster KVF.

Thirty international researchers are visiting Jarðfeingi, the Faroese Earth and Energy Directorate, to carry out trials using the basalt rock that is found throughout the islands.

If the project, known as Decarbfaroe, proves successful, researchers from countries including India and Brazil plan to pursue similar CO2 storage experiments in basalt formations in their own countries.

Iceland is several years ahead in the field of CO2 storage in basalt, though the basalt found there differs from that in the Faroe Islands.

The partners behind the Faroese workshop are Jarðfeingi, Norwegian energy company Equinor, formerly known as Statoil, and 44.01, a company founded in Oman in 2020 with the specific aim of storing CO2 in rock.