04.02.2019

# Calls & events

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Call for Abstracts: The Role of Negative Emission Technologies in Addressing Our Climate Goals

Deadline: 1. March 2019

"It is clear that Negative Emission Technologies (NETs) can never be a wholesale replacement for reducing emissions but may be useful in displacing some energy/emission intensive sectors. It is unlikely that a single NETs proposal can be scaled sufficiently to meet this demand, and a portfolio of approaches may be more feasible. The primary removal methods of focus in this research topic of Frontiers in Climate will include all negative emissions strategies that directly mitigate climate change."

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24.12.2018

# Media

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YouTube: David Beerling - Saving Ourselves with Rocks, Crops & Soil

"Dr. David Beerling from the University of Sheffield presents us with his current research into how we might trap gigatons of Carbon, using rock waste from previous mining, and a technique called 'enhanced weathering'."

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09.04.2018

# New Publications

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Xiong, Wei; et al. (2018): CO2 Mineral Sequestration in Naturally Porous Basalt

Xiong, Wei; Wells, Rachel K.; Horner, Jake A.; Schaef, Herbert T.; Skemer, Philip A.; Giammar, Daniel E. (2018): CO2 Mineral Sequestration in Naturally Porous Basalt. In Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 5 (3), pp. 142–147. DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.8b00047.

"We experimentally investigated mineral carbonation in whole core samples retrieved from the Grand Ronde basalt, the same formation into which ∼1000 t of CO2 was recently injected in an eastern Washington pilot-scale demonstration. The rate and extent of carbonate mineral formation at 100 °C and 100 bar were tracked via time-resolved sampling of bench-scale experiments. Basalt cores were recovered from the reactor after 6, 20, and 40 weeks, and three-dimensional X-ray tomographic imaging of these cores detected carbonate mineral formation in the fracture network within 20 weeks."

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23.02.2018

# Media

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New Scientist: Rock dusting on farms could cool the climate, so let’s try it

"Crushed basalt applied to agricultural land could soak up billions of tons of carbon dioxide and boost crops. Let's put it to the test, says Olive Heffernan"

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20.02.2018

# Media

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Technology Networks: Adding Crushed Rock to Farmland Could Reduce CO2 and Protect Crops from Disease

"Farming crops with crushed rocks could help to improve global food security and capture CO2 from the atmosphere, a new study has found. The pioneering research by scientists at the University of Sheffield together with international colleagues suggests that adding fast-reacting silicate rocks to croplands could capture CO2 and give increased protection from pests and diseases while restoring soil structure and fertility."

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20.02.2018

# New Publications

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Beerling, David J.; et al. (2018): Farming with crops and rocks to address global climate, food and soil security

Beerling, David J.; Leake, Jonathan R.; Long, Stephen P.; Scholes, Julie D.; Ton, Jurriaan; Nelson, Paul N. et al. (2018): Farming with crops and rocks to address global climate, food and soil security. In Nature Plants 327, p. 810. DOI: 10.1038/s41477-018-0108-y.

"Managed croplands worldwide are already equipped for frequent rock dust additions to soils, making rapid adoption at scale feasible, and the potential benefits could generate financial incentives for widespread adoption in the agricultural sector. However, there are still obstacles to be surmounted. Audited field-scale assessments of the efficacy of CO2 capture are urgently required together with detailed environmental monitoring. A cost-effective way to meet the rock requirements for CO2 removal must be found, possibly involving the recycling of silicate waste materials. Finally, issues of public perception, trust and acceptance must also be addressed."

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20.02.2018

# Media

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Carbon Brief: Guest post: How ‘enhanced weathering’ could slow climate change and boost crop yields

"Achieving the Paris Agreement goals of keeping global warming to “well below” 2C, or to 1.5C, above pre-industrial levels will require rapid decarbonisation of human society. But national commitments to rein in greenhouse gas emissions are currently insufficient to meet these agreed limits. It is increasingly likely that “negative emissions”, or “carbon dioxide removal”, technologies will be needed to take up the slack."

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05.02.2018

# New Publications

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Griffioen, Jasper (2017): Enhanced weathering of olivine in seawater. The efficiency as revealed by thermodynamic scenario analysis

Griffioen, Jasper (2017): Enhanced weathering of olivine in seawater. The efficiency as revealed by thermodynamic scenario analysis. In The Science of the Total Environment 575, pp. 536–544. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.008.

"This study aimed to characterise how olivine can weather in seawater, to elucidate the role of secondary precipitation and to ascertain the efficiency in terms of molar CO2 removal per mole of olivine dissolution. Geochemical thermodynamic equilibrium modelling was used, which considered both the variable mineralogical composition of olivine and the kinds of secondary precipitates that may be formed. The advantage is that such an approach is independent from local or regional factors as temperature, related kinetics, mineralogy, etc. The results show that the efficiency falls when secondary precipitates are formed."

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11.05.2017

# Media

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Center for Carbon Removal: Rocks: the next big climate solution?

"A small community of researchers increasingly see the potential for certain types of rocks to offer a cost-effective carbon capture and storage (CCS) approach that could one day help reverse climate change. Yes: plain, old rocks. Here is the story behind the potential CCS strategy hiding under our feet."

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10.04.2017

# New Publications

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Kantola, Ilsa B.; et al. (2017): Potential of global croplands and bioenergy crops for climate change mitigation through deployment for enhanced weathering

Kantola, Ilsa B.; Masters, Michael D.; Beerling, David J.; Long, Stephen P.; DeLucia, Evan H. (2017): Potential of global croplands and bioenergy crops for climate change mitigation through deployment for enhanced weathering. In Biology letters 13 (4). DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0714 

"Enhanced weathering (EW) in agricultural soils—applying crushed silicate rock as a soil amendment—is a method for combating global climate change while increasing nutrient availability to plants. EW uses land that is already producing food and fuel to sequester carbon (C), and reduces N2O loss through pH buffering. As biofuel use increases, EW in bioenergy crops offers the opportunity to sequester CO2 while reducing fossil fuel combustion. Uncertainties remain in the long-term effects and global implications of large-scale efforts to directly manipulate Earth's atmospheric CO2 composition, but EW in agricultural lands is an opportunity to employ these soils to sequester atmospheric C while benefitting crop production and the global climate."

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