In a new study, they demonstrated that the practice could remove between 6 and 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere annually by 2050.
The cost of carbon dioxide removal is currently estimated to be around £200 per tonne with expectations that this will fall to half that by 2050. This makes the rock dust solution highly competitive relative to other removal options.
The research also finds other benefits including the mitigation of nitrous oxide, the third most important greenhouse gas, and widespread reversal of soil acidification caused by intensification of agriculture. It can also be used as a substitute for expensive imported fertilisers in many cases. By reducing demand for imported fertilisers, using rock dust avoids carbon emissions and offsets costs of deployment.
Deployment would be straightforward, the study finds, because the approach uses existing infrastructure without the need for expensive facilities such as direct...