Iceland will store carbon dioxide, blamed for global warming, deep in its lava bedrock where the gas will turn into a mineral to keep it away from the atmosphere. The company undertaking the project claims the technology would also work in Hawai'i.

Reykjavik Energy, Iceland's biggest geothermal utility, started a project today injecting CO2 mixed with water 1,300 feet underground where it will react with basalt rock to form calcite, the company said in a statement.

Energy companies are beginning to store greenhouse gases underground to reduce emissions. Reykjavik Energy said this will be the first project ever where the gas turns into stone, preventing it from escaping into the atmosphere.

Scientists from Columbia University, the University of Iceland and the French National Center for Scientific Research in Toulouse will work together on the project, Holmfridur Sigurdardottir, head of the project, said from Reykjavik.

"If we prove that this is workable, the global potential is huge," she said. Basaltic bedrocks are present all over the world, including the U.S. Northwest, Siberia in Russia, western India and the Hawaiian Islands, Reykjavik Energy said.