A team from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) applied 56 tonnes of finely ground basalt rock from quarries to three hectares of farmland in Plynlimon, Powys.
The basalt rock dust particles, which are less than 2mm in size, absorb and store carbon at faster rates than occur with the breaking down, or weathering of the naturally occurring rocks at the sites, reducing the timescale from decades to just months.
It’s estimated that the ‘Enhanced Rock Weathering’ process could remove up to two billion tonnes of CO2 a year from the atmosphere globally by 2050. This would include up to 30 million tonnes in the UK – around 30 per cent of annual greenhouse gas removal targets as part of national net zero plans.
While other studies from around the world suggest the process could be very effective in removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, there have been no large-scale trials in the UK for country-specific land use and soil systems.
Professor...