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 ...