Image: Pekka Sipilä / Yle

Nuclear physicist Matti Nurmia of the University of Jyväskylä has been granted a Finnish patent for the system, which he developed about three years ago. It could play a role in cutting greenhouse emissions, offering an alternative to costly methods of storing CO 2 .

The inventor and his son Ilkka Nurmia have established a company called Cuycha Innovation, based in Rajamäki, 50km north of Helsinki.

Using the system, CO 2 from coal-fired power plants is diverted into a neutralisation facility in a silo-like structure. The gases are collected into a watery liquid, which is then filtered through feldspar minerals, which are produced as a by-product of mining operations. The hydrogen ions are replaced by ions of alkali or alkaline earth metals. This produces a harmless bicarbonate fluid that can be dumped, while recovering potentially valuable aluminium compounds and other metals that can be re-used by industry.

Fortum studying plan

“Our partners and the large companies we are dealing with in South Africa say that this is a win-win situation for everyone,” Ilkka Nurmia told YLE.

“We now have two large projects in South Africa and five in Botswana. There is the political will and World Bank funding for this kind of venture,” he adds.

Despite two years of efforts, Finnish companies have so far been reluctant to embrace the invention. The nation’s largest utility, Fortum, is studying the system.

“As an idea, it’s OK, but in practical terms we have to study the details and broader issues before we can take a stand on how it might be adopted,” says Fortum’s technology director, Risto Sormunen.

A preliminary study at the Tampere University of Applied Sciences is to be completed soon. In the meantime, the Nurmias are moving to Botswana.

Nurmia's patent application