Environmental and health impacts of atmospheric CO2 removal by enhanced rock weathering depend on nations’ energy mix

Enhanced Rock Weathering is a proposed Carbon Dioxide Removal technology involving the application of crushed silicate rocks, such as basalt, to agricultural soils with potential co-benefits for crops and soils, and mitigation of ocean acidification. Here we address the requirement of diverse stakeh...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Communications earth & environment 2022-12, Vol.3 (1), p.1-13, Article 106
Main Authors: Eufrasio, Rafael M., Kantzas, Euripides P., Edwards, Neil R., Holden, Philip B., Pollitt, Hector, Mercure, Jean-Francois, Koh, S. C. Lenny, Beerling, David J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acidic soils
Acidification
Agricultural land
Atmospheric models
Basalt
Business competition
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide removal
Carbon sequestration
Clean energy
Energy
Environmental impact
Health risks
Life cycle analysis
Life cycle assessment
Life cycles
Ocean acidification
Rocks
Soils
Supply chains
Sustainability
Water use
Weathering
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Enhanced Rock Weathering is a proposed Carbon Dioxide Removal technology involving the application of crushed silicate rocks, such as basalt, to agricultural soils with potential co-benefits for crops and soils, and mitigation of ocean acidification. Here we address the requirement of diverse stakeholders for informative studies quantifying possible environmental and health risks of Enhanced Rock Weathering. Using life-cycle assessment modelling of potential supply chain impacts for twelve nations undertaking Enhanced Rock Weathering deployment to deliver up to net 2 Gt CO 2 y r−1 CDR, we find that rock grinding rather than mining exerts the dominant influence on environmental impacts. This finding holds under both a business-as-usual and clean energy mix scenario to 2050 but transitioning to undertaking Enhanced Rock Weathering in the future with low carbon energy systems improves the sustainability of the Enhanced Rock Weathering supply chain. We find that Enhanced Rock Weathering is competitive with other large-scale Carbon Dioxide Removal strategies in terms of energy and water demands.
ISSN:2662-4435
2662-4435
DOI:10.1038/s43247-022-00436-3