Potential of enhanced rock weathering deployed with UK agriculture to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide

A major new detailed simulation-based analysis reports the first robust

estimates of net carbon sequestration for UK farmland by implementing

enhanced rock weathering (EW) with basalt, a common natural silicate

rock, between 2020 and 2070.

Major findings are that EW with UK arable land could sequester a

maximum of 6-30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) per year by

2070. This represents up to 45% of the CO 2 emissions removal required

for our net-zero by 2050 commitment, with a maximum energy demand

of 0.6% of the UK’s power production (i.e. less than 1TWh yr -1 ).

Costs of CO 2 by EW are highly competitive relative to industrial carbon

dioxide removal technologies required to meet our achieve net-zero

emissions, such as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, and

direct air capture.

EW can seamlessly integrate with current agricultural practices to

support UK food and soil security whilst simultaneously sequestering

carbon, with crushed basalt substituting for expensive imported

phosphorus and potassium fertilisers.

Gaining acceptance of EW across national political, local community and

farm scales is crucial, where acceptance means recognition of the need

to work with stakeholders and affected publics to identify the conditions

under which this technology might proceed.

EW should be included in future government and Committee on Climate

Change pathways to net-zero. It is immediately deployable with multiple

co-benefits for agricultural productivity and the environment.