Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere initial carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of the young Earth was produced by volcanic activity, modern volcanic activity releases only 130 to 230 megatonnes of carbon dioxide each year. These natural sources are nearly balanced by natural sinks, physical and biological processes which remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. For example, some is directly removed from the atmosphere by land plants for photosynthesis and it is soluble in water forming carbonic acid. There is a large natural flux of into and out of the biosphere and oceans. In the pre-industrial era these fluxes were largely in balance. Currently about 57%
Supercritical carbon dioxide the supercritical state and injected into geological storage, possibly into existing oil fields to improve yields. The unique properties of s ensure that it remains out of the atmosphere. Supercritical could be used as a working fluid in enhanced geothermal systems. Possible advantages compared to water include higher energy yield resulting from its lower viscosity, better chemical interaction, storage through fluid loss and higher temperature limit. As of 2011, the concept had not been tested in the field. Supercritical carbon dioxide is used in the production of silica, carbon and metal based aerogels. For example, silicon dioxide gel is formed