Tag: enhanced weathering

Peer-reviewed Publications

Planavsky et al. (2026): Bridging carbon removal time lags in agricultural enhanced weathering via methane emission reduction

Noah J Planavsky, Beck J Woollen, Ella Milliken, Yoshiki Kanzaki, Mojtaba Fakhraee, David J. Beerling and Christopher T Reinhard, IN: Environmental Research Letters, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae74e7

Enhanced weathering (EW) shows promising signs of delivering durable carbon dioxide removal. This pathway may be able to rapidly scale by tying into existing farm infrastructure while providing clear co-benefits to growers. However, in many EW deployments, the shift in radiative forcing is offset from the investment in the deployment. This radiative forcing time lag complicates using the practice to offset carbon emissions. Here, the authors suggest that coupling EW with enhanced methane destruction provides a robust framework for carbon credits. They provide examples of how this framework could provide continuous and immediate offsets of anthropogenic emissions.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Bullock & Alcalde (2026): Carbon Removal Using Geological Resources and Mine By-Products

Liam A. Bullock and Juan Alcalde, IN: Springer Nature Reference Work, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-87501-4_67-1

Geochemical carbon dioxide removal (CDR) offers a promising pathway for achieving durable reductions in atmospheric CO₂ by leveraging natural and industrial alkaline materials. This approach relies on the controlled weathering of predominantly silicate-bearing rocks, as well as the use of industrial by-products, to generate stable bicarbonate ions and carbonate minerals, removing CO₂ on human-relevant timescales.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Conti et al. (2026): Molecular Views of Mineral Carbonation: Reaction of CO₂ with the Wollastonite (100) Surface

Andrea Conti, Luca Lezuo, Alexander Hoheneder, Elena Vaníčková, Domitilla Alessandra Aloi, Andreas Steiger-Thirsfeld, David Heuser, Rainer Abart, Florian Mittendorfer, Michael Schmid, Ulrike Diebold, Giada Franceschi, IN: ACS Nano, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.5c19629

The carbonation of silicate minerals is a key process in the Earth’s carbon cycle and offers a promising avenue for long-term CO₂ sequestration. However, the atomistic mechanisms by which CO₂ is activated at silicate surfaces remain poorly understood, largely due to the intrinsic complexity and insulating nature of these materials. To close this gap, wollastonite (CaSiO₃) is used as a model system. Noncontact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM) with functionalized tips is combined with density functional theory (DFT) to investigate its lowest-energy (100) surface under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV). Upon cleaving the mineral in UHV, water vapor is released from the sample and spontaneously readsorbs into a previously unreported, exceptionally stable configuration.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Shiimi et al. (2026): A field trial demonstrating CO₂ removal through enhanced weathering in mine tailings: design, commissioning and early performance of a European Union-funded pilot

Rosalia Shiimi, Will Savage, Evangelos Mouchos, Ottomar Brussee, Erik Ronne, Steven Pearce, IN: ResearchGate (preprint)

Tailings from mafic and ultramafic mines can be utilised to neutralise acids, and capture and store carbon dioxide (CO₂) via enhanced rock weathering (ERW). As part of the European Union (EU)-funded C-SINK project, Boliden’s active Kevitsa Mine, Finland, hosts a field trial to develop scalable monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) for carbon dioxide removal (CDR). At Kevitsa, a 2 m deep, 25 m² filtered tailings test cell was installed in August 2025 to quantify ERW-driven CDR and establish a mine-ready MRV approach. Filled with filtered tailings, the cell is equipped with 3 vertical stations, with ports at various depths. Each port includes CO₂ and oxygen (O₂) sensors plus temperature, water content and electrical conductivity (EC) probes, for continuous, depth-controlled pore/void monitoring. A pH probe tracks near-surface changes. To capture reaction products and quantify carbon flux, a drainage well with an autosampler collects leachate for laboratory analysis of pH, EC, alkalinity, dissolved inorganic carbon, major cations/anions and trace elements. Determination of CDR is carried out using these sensor and leachate chemistry data, coupled with periodic solid-phase sampling of tailings for in situ carbonate formation evidence.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Vienne et al. (2026): Weathering without realizing inorganic CO₂ removal revealed through base cation monitoring

Arthur Vienne, Patrick Frings, Jet Rijnders, Lucilla Boito, Jens Hartmann, Harun Niron, Reinaldy Poetra, Miguel Portillo Estrada, Tom Reershemius, Laura Steinwidder, Tim Jesper Suhrhoff, and Sara Vicca, IN: SOIL, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-12-421-2026

Enhanced Weathering using basalt rock dust is a scalable carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technique, but quantifying rock weathering and CDR rates poses a critical challenge. Here, the authors investigated realized inorganic CO₂ removal (defined as the sum of the change in dissolved inorganic C leaching and in neoformed solid inorganic C) and weathering rates by treating mesocosms planted with maize with basalt (0, 10, 30, 50, 75, 100, 150 and 200 t ha−1) and monitoring them for 101 d. They observed no significant realized inorganic CO₂ removal, as leaching of dissolved inorganic carbon did not increase and soil carbonate content declined over time. To gain insights into the weathering processes, they traced the fate of base cations in the soil and plants.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Rineau et al. (2026): Enhanced weathering leads to substantial C accrual on crop macrocosms

Francois Rineau, Alexander H. Frank, Jannis Groh, Kristof Grosjean, Arnaud Legout, Daniil I. Kolokolov, Michel Mench, Maria Moreno-Druet, Benoît Pollier, Virmantas Povilaitis, Johanna Pausch, Thomas Puetz, Tjalling Rooks, Peter Schröder, Wieslaw Szulc, Beata Rutkowska, Xander Swinnen, Sofie Thijs, Harry Vereecken, Janna V. Veselovskaya, Mwahija Zubery, Renaldas Žydelis, and Evelin Loit, IN: Biogeosciences, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-2261-2026

Enhanced weathering (EW) is proposed as a key strategy for climate change mitigation and carbon dioxide removal technology. Dissolution of silicate minerals enhances the alkalinity of the pore water, resulting at a shift of the carbonate system towards carbonate and bicarbonate, leading to higher dissolved inorganic carbon when the water is equilibrated with the atmosphere. Here, the authors evaluated the effects of EW on a crop ecosystem under future climate change conditions within a macro-scale ecotron – an enclosed facility enabling complete quantification of carbon fluxes among the atmosphere, vegetation, soil, and leachates. They monitored all greenhouse gases in deep mesocosms representative of marginal soil conditions and, after liming and fertilization, applied 10 t ha−1 of basalt at the start of the experiment.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Munir et al. (2026): Enhanced weathering for carbon dioxide removal: mechanistic advances, field evidence, and governance challenges

Bushra Munir, Seong Hyeon Nam, Byung Jun Park, Seok Soon Jeong, Jung-Hwan Yoon, Jinah Moon, Jae Yang and Hyuck Soo Kim, IN: Episodes, https://doi.org/10.18814/epiiugs/2026/026005

Achieving net-zero emissions will require scalable and durable carbon dioxide removal (CDR) alongside deep mitigation. Enhanced weathering (EW) has long been proposed as a land-based CDR option, but its real-world performance and governance readiness have remained uncertain. This review assesses whether EW has progressed from theoretical promise to a credible CDR pathway by synthesizing recent advances in field evidence, monitoring–reporting–verification (MRV), life-cycle performance, risk management, and policy frameworks.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Buma et al. (2026): Expert elicitation on agricultural enhanced weathering reveals carbon dioxide removal potential and uncertainties in loss pathways

Brian Buma, Christiana Dietzen, Doria R. Gordon, Kate Maher, Rebecca B. Neumann, Noah J. Planavsky, Tom Reershemius, Tim Jesper Suhrhoff, Sara Vicca, Bonnie G. Waring, Maya Almaraz, Salvatore Calabrese, Louis A. Derry, M. Granger Morgan, John Higgins, Benjamin Z. Houlton, Yoshiki Kanzaki, Alexandra Klemme, Tyler Kukla, Emily E. Oldfield, Ian M. Power, Christopher R. Pearce, Whendee L. Silver & Shuang Zhang, IN: Communications Earth & Environment, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03375-5

Enhanced weathering in agriculture is a potential gigatonne-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR) pathway, but its potential remains difficult to constrain. The authors used a formal expert elicitation process to estimate CDR potential and efficiency, uncertainties, and key data needs for six feedstocks.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Zhuang et al. (2026): Manganese Oxide-Mediated Reactions with Olivine Dissolution Products: A Double-Edged Sword for Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement

Wen Zhuang, Feng Li, Tianqiang Zhu, Liwen Zheng, Minghao Zhu and Jihua Liu, IN: Environmental Science & Technology, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5c16120

Olivine-based ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) is a promising carbon dioxide removal strategy, yet interactions with layered manganese oxides-ubiquitous minerals controlling trace metal biogeochemistry in marine sediments-remain poorly understood. The authors investigated these mechanisms using synthetic birnessite, a natural analogue of hexagonal layered Mn oxides, in controlled laboratory experiments in seawater under three scenarios reflecting different OAE deployment strategies: direct olivine-birnessite contact, exposure to simulated olivine leachate, and repeated alkaline inputs.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Chen et al. (2026): Sustainability analysis of basalt enhanced weathering in China under the carbon neutrality pathway

Xinyu Chen, Xuan Wang, Xiaoping Jia, Siqi Wang, Raymond R. Tan, Bohong Wang, Fang Wang, IN: Environmental Impact Assessment Review, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2026.108396

Enhanced weathering (EW) of basalt is a promising negative emission technology (NET) for carbon dioxide removal (CDR), yet its large-scale sustainability remains uncertain, particularly in energy-intensive economies like China. This work develops an environmentally extended input-output (EEIO) model to evaluate the economic and environmental impacts of basalt EW deployment under China’s carbon neutrality pathway. This framework integrates life-cycle emissions from mining, comminution, transportation, and cropland application, quantifying trade-offs between CDR potential and process-related carbon footprints.

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