9 results for group: david-beerling

Improved net carbon budgets in the US Midwest through direct measured impacts of enhanced weathering

Ilsa B. Kantola, Elena Blanc-Betes, Michael D. Masters, Elliot Chang, Alison Marklein, Caitlin E. Moore, Adam von Haden, Carl J. Bernacchi, Adam Wolf, Dimitar Z. Epihov, David J. Beerling, Evan H. DeLucia Abstract Terrestrial enhanced weathering (EW) through the application of Mg- or Ca- rich rock dust to soil is a negative emission technology with the potential to address impacts of climate change. The effectiveness of EW was tested over 4 years by spreading ground basalt (50 t ha−1 year−1) on maize/soybean and miscanthus cropping systems in the Midwest US. The major elements of the carbon budget were quantified through ...

Enhanced weathering in the U.S. Corn Belt delivers carbon removal with agronomic benefits

David J. Beerling, Dimitar Z. Epihov, Ilsa B. Kantola, Michael D. Masters, Tom Reershemius, Noah J. Planavsky, Christopher T. Reinhard, Jacob S. Jordan, Sarah J. Thorne1, James Weber, Maria Val Martin, Robert P. Freckleton, Sue E. Hartley, Rachael H. James, Christopher R. Pearce, Evan H. DeLucia, Steven A. Banwart Abstract Enhanced weathering (EW) with crushed basalt on farmlands is a promising scalable atmospheric carbon dioxide removal strategy that urgently requires performance assessment with commercial farming practices. Our large-scale replicated EW field trial in the heart of the U.S. Corn Belt shows cumulative time integrated carbon ...

A new soil-based approach for empirical monitoring of enhanced rock weathering rates

Tom Reershemius, Mike E. Kelland, Isabelle R. Davis, Rocco D’Ascanio, Boriana Kalderon Asael, Dan Asael, Dimitar E. Epihov , David J. Beerling, Christopher T. Reinhard , Noah J. Planavsky Abstract Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) has been touted as a scalable and cost-effective potential carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategy with significant environmental and agronomic co-benefits. However, a major barrier to implementation of ERW at scale is a robust monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) framework that can accurately, precisely, and cost-effectively measure the amount of carbon dioxide being removed by ERW in the field. Here we outline ...

Climate change mitigation: potential benefits and pitfalls of enhanced rock weathering in tropical agriculture

Abstract David P. Edwards, Felix Lim, Rachael H. James, Christopher R. Pearce, Julie Scholes, Robert P. Freckleton and David J. Beerling Restricting future global temperature increase to 2°C or less requires the adoption of negative emissions technologies for carbon capture and storage. We review the potential for deployment of enhanced weathering (EW), via the application of crushed reactive silicate rocks (such as basalt), on over 680 million hectares of tropical agricultural and tree plantations to offset fossil fuel CO2 emissions. Warm tropical climates and productive crops will substantially enhance weathering rates, with potential ...

Increased carbon capture by a silicate-treated forested watershed affected by acid deposition

Lyla L. Taylor, Charles T. Driscoll, Peter M. Groffman, Greg H. Rau, Joel D. Blum, David J. Beerling Abstract Meeting internationally agreed-upon climate targets requires carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategies coupled with an urgent phase-down of fossil fuel emissions. However, the efficacy and wider impacts of CDR are poorly understood. Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) is a land-based CDR strategy requiring large-scale field trials. Here we show that a low 3.44 t ha−1 wollastonite treatment in an 11.8 ha acid-rain-impacted forested watershed in New Hampshire, USA, led to cumulative carbon capture by carbonic acid weathering of 0.025–0.13 t ...

CO2 sequestration by Enhanced Weathering of agricultural soils in Norfolk, UK

Andrews, G., Epihov, D., Pearce, C. R., James, R. H., Beerling, D. J. Abstract Enhanced Weathering (EW) of silicate rocks is a carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) removal (CDR) strategy whereby powdered rock is applied to the land and/or ocean in order to mitigate climate warming through accelerated rates of chemical weathering. Agricultural sites are particularly suited for EW as they host infastructure needed to implement EW, and the nutrients released during weathering facilitate a number of food security co-benefits such as increased crop yields [1]. Here we present results from EW field trials conducted in Norfolk, United Kingdom, with two different ...

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

Rafael M. Eufrasio, Euripides P. Kantzas, Neil R. Edwards, Philip B. Holden, Hector Pollitt, Jean-Francois Mercure, S. C. Lenny Koh, David J. Beerling Abstract 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 cobenefits 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 ...

Simulating carbon capture by enhanced weathering with croplands: an overview of key processes highlighting areas of future model development

Lyla L. Taylor, David J. Beerling, Shaun Quegan, Steven A. Banwart Abstract Enhanced weathering (EW) aims to amplify a natural sink for CO2by incorporating powdered silicate rock with high reactive surface area into agricultural soils. The goal is to achieve rapid dissolution of minerals and release of alkalinity with accompanying dissolution of CO2into soils and drainage waters. EW could counteract phosphorus limitation and greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions in tropical soils, and soil acidification, a common agricultural problem studied with numerical process models over several decades. Here, we review the processes leading to soil acidifica...

Potential of global croplands and bioenergy crops for climate change mitigation through deployment for enhanced weathering

Ilsa B. Kantola, Michael D. Masters, David J. Beerling, Stephen P. Long and Evan H. DeLucia Abstract Conventional row crop agriculture for both food and fuel is a source of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) to the atmosphere, and intensifying production on agricultural land increases the potential for soil C loss and soil acidification due to fertilizer use. Enhanced weathering (EW) in agricultural soils—applying crushed silicate rock as a soil amendment—is a method for combating global climate change while increasing nutrient availability to plants. EW uses land that is already producing food and fuel to sequester carbon (C), and ...