Ryan et al. (2024): The potential for carbon dioxide removal by enhanced rock weathering in the tropics: An evaluation of Costa Rica

P.C. Ryan, A. Santis, E. Vanderkloot, M. Bhatti, S. Caddle, M. Ellis, A. Grimes, S. Silverman, E. Soderstrom, C. Stone, A. Takoudes, P. Tulay, S. Wright IN: Science of The Total Environment, 927, 172053, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172053

Tropical environments show great potential to sequester CO₂ by enhanced rock weathering (ERW) of powdered mafic rocks applied to agricultural fields. This study seeks to assess carbon dioxide reduction (CDR) potential in the humid tropics (1) by experimental weathering of mafic rock powders in conditions simulating humid tropical soils, and (2) from weathering rates determined from a Holocene tropical soil chronosequence where parent material is andesitic sediments. Experimentally determined weathering rates by leaching of basaltic andesites from Costa Rica (Arenal and Barva) for 50 t ha⁻¹ applications indicate potential sequestration of 2.4 to 4.5 t CO₂ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹, whereas the USGS basalt standard BHVO-1 yields a rate of 11.9 t ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹.

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