78 results for tag: rock dust

Dennis Amoroso has a plan to end the world’s fertilizer crisis

When Dennis Amoroso made it his job to turn the world's mining byproducts into carbon-sinking fertilizer, he envisioned a future when his grandchildren could eat well beyond the safety of his organic orchards. A future full of flavorful, nutrient-dense fruit plucked straight off the tree — grown without toxic, carbon-emitting chemicals used in conventional farming. Dennis Amoroso of Plant Nutrition Technologies, Inc. As the world contends with record high food prices and looming threats from climate change, a fertilizer crisis propelled by the Russian invasion of Ukraine is putting the world's crops on hold. While the United Nations rushes to ...

Silicate Rock Power: Why it’s so important and why the world should care

Agriculture puts a high demand on soil nutrients, with subsequent soil depletion driving the fertilizer industry. Fortunately, silicate rock powder provides a sustainable macronutrient and micronutrient replacement, as explained in a recent literature review by Philipp Swoboda, Thomas F. Döring and Martin Hamer (Swoboda et al. 2022). Philipp Swoboda, PhD For example, silicate rock powders contain most of the nutrients — potassium specifically — that plants require (Deer et al. 2013). This is particularly important in tropical climates due to high depletion of soil nutrients and the economic inaccessibility to fertilizers in those regions, ...

The Future Forest Company on OpenAir CDR: Natural approaches to CO2 removal

The Future Forest Company project in Brisbane Mains, Scotland The Future Forest Company featured on OpenAir CDR When it comes to national and international discussions of the climate crisis, so much of the focus has been on decarbonization methods: What can countries and corporations do to reduce track and reduce their carbon footprint? Experts agree that this is a necessary step in reducing future warming – and the inevitable consequences that come with a 2°C temperature increase – but this approach is inherently limited, circumventing the very real problems of the here and now. Decarbonization offers only half a solution; the other half ...

Rock Dust as a Sustainable Amendment in Northwestern European Agriculture

Glacial deposit in Greenland Introduction The EU is the world’s leading exporter of agri-food, supplying 20% of world food and drink (Matthews, 2021; EEA, 2020). In 2020, more than 40% of Europe’s acreage was used for agriculture. 61% of this agricultural area was operated by high to medium intensity farms in terms of fertilizer and pesticide cost. The considerable growth in crop and livestock has caused environmental impacts that call for sustainable solutions. Northwestern Europe There are several initiatives currently focused on sustainable agricultural practices in Northwestern Europe. The European Commission has announced several ...

Rock Dust to the Rescue for Brazil During Europe’s Geopolitical Crisis

A soy plantation in western Bahia, Brazil. Image by Fernanda Ligabue/Greenpeace. As the invasion of Ukraine by Russia threatens to cut off fertilizer shipments, forcing Brazil to search for new fertilizer suppliers, further expansion of rock dust application in the South American country offers a solution, according to Remineralize the Earth executive director Joanna Campe. Joanna Campe speaking at the II Congresso Rochagem in Brazil. “Rock dust is the cornerstone of a sustainable and profitable future,” Campe pointed out in response to the tragic circumstances. The geopolitical reality will encourage Brazil to look for alternative ...

Study Captures Data to Turn Midwestern Farms into Carbon Sinks

(Left to right) Prof. Daniel Maxbauer, Jaren Yambing, and Ella Milliken Carleton College geologists join a growing wave of research into the carbon-trapping power of pulverized rock in America's agricultural fields No one could have predicted the severe heatwave that would swelter Ella Milliken and Jaren Yambing's first week of baseline field testing in June 2021—except maybe climate scientists. It was the longest heatwave to occur so early in a Minnesotan summer.  Under a blazing June sun, the Carleton College research assistants walked among rows of knee-high corn saplings in 90-degree weather. Flagging the corners of 12 half-acre plots, they ...

IV Congresso Brasileiro de Rochagem: Highlights from the Presentations in Portuguese

(Clockwise from top right) Dr. Magda Bergmann, Prof. Suzi Huff Theodoro, and Dr. Antonio N. Zamunér Filho. “I was converted,” confessed agronomist Antônio Bizão. Listening to Bizão’s skepticism of stonemeal was the highlight of the IV Congresso Brasileiro de Rochagem (which translates to “IV Brazilian Congress of Stonemeal”). Bizão talked of his intention, years ago, to denounce professionals who defended the use of silicate rocks for agriculture, before conducting experiments himself and obtaining replicable positive results. We were listening to a stonemeal Saul of Tarsus and the moment allowed me a glimpse of a community of farmers ...

Remineralization Goes Mainstream: Major media outlets recognize the power of rock dust

Application of silicate material to cropland. Beerling et al. demonstrate that enhanced rock weathering, achieved by adding crushed basalt or other silicate material to soil, is an effective strategy for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Photo by: Ilsa B Kantola break Last year, the journal Nature published an immensely-popular study on remineralization. With more than 20,000 views, this article may be the most widely-read paper on enhanced weathering to date, and several major media outlets have picked up on it as well. In The Washington Post, Lindsay Layton explains clearly: “Spreading rock dust on the ground could pull carbon ...

Prairie Grass Systems: Texan’s Invention Remineralizes Soil While Replenishing Native Flora

Imagine an irrigation system that does not rely on clear water to run through its small tubing orifices, but rather can provide a nutritious ‘dirty’ water, filled with fine rock dust and other particulates that can optimally feed soil microbes. That will be just one of many benefits with David Munson’s Prairie Grass Systems.  “We take a water slurry mix and inject it under the plants to provide a little bit of water to the plants, but also food for the soil organisms to attack the rock dust and feed the plants,” he says about his patented invention that allows for maximum production of forage crops for cattle — native prairie ...

ArtifexBalear in Mallorca: From regenerative agriculture to marine ecosystem restoration

A tour of Miquel's Farm I had the opportunity to interview Miquel Ramis, the multifaceted founder and director of ArtifexBalear, and he took me on a virtual tour of his farm. On the outskirts of Palma de Mallorca, in a forest garden brimming with raspberries and asparagus, Miquel grows around 14 varieties of different plants. They are planted and grown densely, and they are chosen for their synergy in relation to each other. In the garden, Miquel has built and installed bat houses and two prototypes of houses for insects such as ladybugs, mason bees and butterflies. The old stone finca, a 17th century estate, includes stonemasonry, blacksmithing, and ...