Kroeger et al. (2026): Analyzing Co-Benefits and Rock Sourcing in Life Cycle and Techno-Economic Assessment of Enhanced Rock Weathering
Jennifer Kroeger, Bingquan Zhang, Noah Planavsky and Yuan Yao, IN: Environmental Science & Technology, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5c14334
Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) is a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategy that stores atmospheric CO₂ permanently in carbonates. Recent ERW literature has highlighted potential co-benefits from cropland ERW application, including reduced fertilizer requirements and soil N₂O emissions. However, contributions of co-benefits to life cycle environmental impacts remain poorly understood, and methodologies for integrating them into environmental and cost assessments are lacking. The authors address these research gaps by integrating co-benefits into a coupled life cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis to quantify environmental impacts and costs of ERW with and without co-benefits.