Tag: enhanced weathering

Peer-reviewed Publications

Niron et al. (2024): Exploring the synergy of enhanced weathering and Bacillus subtilis: A promising strategy for sustainable agriculture

Harun Niron, Arthur Vienne, Patrick Frings, Reinaldy Poetra, Sara Vicca IN: Global Change Biology 30 (9), e17511, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17511

Among CDR technologies, enhanced silicate weathering (ESW) has been suggested as a promising option. While ESW has been demonstrated to depend strongly on pH, water, and temperature, recent studies suggest that biota may accelerate mineral weathering rates. Bacillus subtilis is a plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium that can facilitate weathering to obtain mineral nutrients. It is a promising agricultural biofertilizer, as it helps plants acquire nutrients and protects them from environmental stresses. Given that croplands are optimal implementation fields for ESW, any synergy between ESW and B. subtilis can hold great potential for further practice. B. subtilis was reported to enhance weathering under laboratory conditions, but there is a lack of data for soil applications. In a soil-mesocosm experiment, the authors examined the effect of B. subtilis on basalt weathering.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Vienne et al. (2024): Earthworms in an enhanced weathering mesocosm experiment: effects on soil carbon sequestration, base cation exchange and soil CO2 efflux

Arthur Vienne, Patrick Frings, Sílvia Poblador, Laura Steinwidder, Jet Rijnders, Jonas Schoelynck, Olga Vinduskova, Sara Vicca IN: Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 109596, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2024.109596

The role of soil organisms, such as earthworms, in enhancing silicate weathering (both physically and chemically) has been suggested, but there is limited quantitative data on how biota, especially earthworms, contribute to inorganic carbon sequestration. To address these gaps, the authors conducted a mesocosm experiment with earthworms and basalt.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Niron et al. (2024): Exploring the synergy of enhanced weathering and Bacillus subtilis: A promising strategy for sustainable agriculture

Harun Niron, Arthur Vienne, Patrick Frings, Reinaldy Poetra, Sara Vicca IN: Global Change Biology, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17511

While ESW has been demonstrated to depend strongly on pH, water, and temperature, recent studies suggest that biota may accelerate mineral weathering rates. Bacillus subtilis is a plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium that can facilitate weathering to obtain mineral nutrients. It is a promising agricultural biofertilizer, as it helps plants acquire nutrients and protects them from environmental stresses. Given that croplands are optimal implementation fields for ESW, any synergy between ESW and B. subtilis can hold great potential for further practice. B. subtilis was reported to enhance weathering under laboratory conditions, but there is a lack of data for soil applications. In a soil-mesocosm experiment, the authors examined the effect of B. subtilis on basalt weathering. B. subtilis–basalt interaction stimulated basalt weathering and increased soil extractable Fe.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Levy et al. (2024): Enhanced Rock Weathering for Carbon Removal–Monitoring and Mitigating Potential Environmental Impacts on Agricultural Land

Charlotte R. Levy, Maya Almaraz, David J. Beerling, Peter Raymond, Christopher T. Reinhard, Tim Jesper Suhrhoff, Lyla Taylor IN: Environmental Science & Technology, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.4c02368

This paper identifies potential negative consequences and positive co-benefits of ERW scale-up and suggests mitigation and monitoring strategies. To do so, the authors examined literature on not only ERW but also industry, agriculture, ecosystem science, water chemistry, and human health. From this work, they develop recommendations for future research, infrastructure, and policy needs. The authors also recommend target metrics, risk mitigation strategies, and best practices for monitoring that will permit early detection and prevention of negative environmental impacts.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Xu et al. (2024): Enhanced silicate weathering accelerates forest carbon sequestration by stimulating the soil mineral carbon pump

Tongtong Xu, Zuoqiang Yuan, Sara Vicca, Daniel S Goll, Guochen Li, Luxiang Lin, Hui Chen, Boyuan Bi, Qiong Chen, Chenlu Li, Xing Wang, Chao Wang, Zhanqing Hao, Yunting Fang, David J Beerling IN: Global Change Biology, 30, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17464

Enhanced silicate rock weathering (ERW) aims at promoting soil inorganic carbon sequestration by accelerating geochemical weathering processes. Theoretically, ERW may also impact soil organic carbon (SOC), the largest carbon pool in terrestrial ecosystems, but experimental evidence for this is largely lacking. Here, the authors conducted a 2-year field experiment in tropical rubber plantations in the southeast of China to evaluate the effects of wollastonite powder additions (0, 0.25, and 0.5 kg m-2) on both soil organic and inorganic carbon at 0-10 cm depth.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Hasemer et al. (2024): Measuring Enhanced Weathering: inorganic carbon-based approaches may be required to complement cation-based approaches

Heath D. Hasemer, Justin Borevitz, Wolfram Buss IN: Frontiers in Climate, doi: 10.3389/fclim.2024.1352825

This study compares current measurement approaches that focus on quantifying inorganic carbon and cations within the soil and leachate. Cation-based calculations of CDR were compared to inorganic carbon-based calculations of CDR and soil results were compared to leachate results. The recovery rate of cations in the soil fraction was also tested. Three different ground silicate minerals/rocks – basalt, olivine and wollastonite, were mixed with two different soils and were allowed to weather over 16 weeks in pots with and without plants under different watering regimes and the application of an acidifying fertiliser. Soil and leachate samples were analysed for cations by ICP-OES and inorganic carbon by direct acidification and total alkalinity titration (in leachate only).

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Peer-reviewed Publications

De Marco et al. (2024): Energy demand and savings opportunities in the supply of limestone and olivine-rich rocks for geochemical carbon dioxide removal

Serena De Marco, Stefano Caserini, Thorben Amann, Mario Grosso IN: Environ. Res. Lett., 19, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad4efb

The large-scale implementation of geochemical Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) approaches such as Enhanced Weathering (EW) and Ocean Liming (OL) will require the extraction and processing of large amounts of limestone and olivine-rich rocks. Based on a literature review, surface mining, comminution, their related sub-stages, and long-haul transportation have carefully been surveyed to elucidate the order of magnitude of the energy demand, the technical challenges posed by each operation, and the potential energy-savings achievable by applying opportune strategies.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Oppon et al. (2024): Sustainability performance of enhanced weathering across countries: A triple bottom line approach

Eunice Oppon, S.C. Lenny Koh, Rafael Eufrasio IN: Energy Economicy, 136, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107722

There is limited research about the broad sustainability impacts in rolling enhanced weathering (EW) on a large scale. This research assesses the triple bottom line sustainability of EW in eight top-emitting countries using an extended input-output model.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Epihov et al. (2024): Iron Chelation in Soil: Scalable Biotechnology for Accelerating Carbon Dioxide Removal by Enhanced Rock Weathering

Dimitar Z. Epihov, Steven A. Banwart, Steve P. McGrath, David P. Martin, Isabella L. Steeley, Vicky Cobbold, Ilsa B. Kantola, Michael D. Masters, Evan H. DeLucia, David J. Beerling IN: Environmental Science and Technology, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c10146

Here, the authors combine multiomics analyses of belowground microbiomes, laboratory-based dissolution studies, and incubation investigations of soils from field enhanced rock weathering (EW) trials to build the case for manipulating iron chelators in soil to increase EW efficiency and lower costs. Microbial siderophores are high-affinity, highly selective iron (Fe) chelators that enhance the uptake of Fe from soil minerals into cells. Applying RNA-seq metatranscriptomics and shotgun metagenomics to soils and basalt grains from EW field trials revealed that microbial communities on basalt grains significantly upregulate siderophore biosynthesis gene expression relative to microbiomes of the surrounding soil. Separate in vitro laboratory incubation studies showed that micromolar solutions of siderophores and high-affinity synthetic chelator (ethylenediamine-N,N′-bis-2-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, EDDHA) accelerate EW to increase CDR rates. Building on these findings, we develop a potential biotechnology pathway for accelerating EW using the synthetic Fe-chelator EDDHA that is commonly used in agronomy to alleviate the Fe deficiency in high pH soils.

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