Enhancing Rock Weathering Could Sequester Carbon and Benefit Farmers

Crushing silicate rocks and adding them to soil to absorb carbon dioxide has the potential to sequester as much as a gigaton of carbon from the atmosphere annually by 2100, if the technology of enhanced rock weathering is applied widely enough. Modeling by Cornell University, published in Communications Sustainability, indicates that enhanced rock weathering would have to be broadly adopted across the Global South, where warm and wet conditions are present, to meet this goal. Scientists point out that in addition to its carbon sequestering capacity, enhanced rock weathering delivers benefits to farmers by providing calcium, magnesium, and iron to soils and reducing the need for synthetic nutrient inputs. Furthermore, carbon credits associated with the process could provide additional income for farmers.