All Swedish feasibility studies for the capture and storage of carbon dioxide today are based on the captured carbon dioxide being exported for storage under the seabed in other countries' waters in the North Sea, mainly in Norway.
But now the Swedish Energy Agency is supporting a unique research project via the government's billion-dollar initiative Industriklivet, to see if it is possible to store greenhouse gases in liquid form in more detail.
We are located in a forest area just outside Kalix, and not too far from the pulp mill in Karlsborg, which is also part of the project.
- We want to see if we can find basalt and other rocks that react easily with carbon dioxide, to see if it is possible to store carbon dioxide on land in Sweden.
It would give Sweden a negotiated advantage in negotiations with, for example, Norway, which will of course set the price tag for storage, if we could also store at least parts of our carbon dioxide emissions, says Glenn Bark, ore geologist at Luleå University of Technology.
"A problem - but we have also anticipated it"
The question of whether it is possible to store carbon dioxide in Sweden has been investigated previously.
Two places under the seabed in the Baltic Sea have been pointed out as conceivable, although the conditions for large-scale storage there are not as good as in, for example, Norway - where Swedish emissions hope to be able to export their separated carbon dioxide in a few years.
Storing it in the bedrock on land, as has been done in Iceland, has not previously been considered to work in Sweden.
This is because the bedrock here is two billion years older, and not at all as porous as in basalt in Iceland.
There are simply not many cavities where carbon dioxide can fit.
- It is a problem, but we have also anticipated it.
But by combining this technology with technology that is used, for example rock heat - to sew the rock, to create cracks in it to make more room for carbon dioxide, we can overcome them.
Sounds a bit like fracking?
- No, the difference is that fracking takes place with a greater pressure.
This is about lower pressure to avoid problems with seismic activity.
But what are the risks with that?
- There is a risk of seismic activity, ie in the form of earthquakes.
There were problems with this in Iceland initially, but after adjusting the pressure when injecting the liquid with carbon dioxide, the initial problems disappeared, says Glenn Bark.
Samples must be analyzed
This project includes Billerud-Korsnäs paper and pulp factory in Karlsborg, which is located near the forest area where Glenn Bark and his research colleagues for field studies.
Paper and pulp mills have large so-called biogenic carbon dioxide emissions, which thus come from the actual wood raw material they use in papermaking, and which are therefore difficult to get rid of without separation and storage of carbon dioxide.
- We see it as a chance to be able to do more for the climate.
We mainly emit biogenic carbon dioxide, but we also need to contribute to reducing those emissions as well, says Eva Stenholm, factory manager at Billerud Korsnäs mill in Karlsborg outside Kalix.
The field work in the Kalix forests is now complete, and the samples will be analyzed.
And next summer, the researchers will investigate five more places in the country, next to other paper and pulp mills with large emissions, to see if it is possible to store carbon dioxide there as well.
But there are many question marks left around this method of burying carbon dioxide in the ground.
One of them is that carbon dioxide storage is not even allowed in Sweden.
- No, and if we come to the conclusion that this can work, then a discussion about the legislation must be taken directly, says Glenn Bark.