Scientists seek to turbocharge a natural process that cools the Earth

illuminem summarises for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on The Washington Post or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: Terradot, a U.S.-based carbon removal startup, is rapidly scaling a promising climate solution called enhanced rock weathering by spreading finely crushed volcanic rock across farmland in Brazil
• As the basalt reacts with rain and soil, it draws CO₂ from the atmosphere and sequesters it in the form of bicarbonates that wash into the ocean
• The company has already spread 100,000 tons of basalt across 4,500 hectares and plans to issue its first verified carbon credit by year-end

🔭 The context: Enhanced weathering is a natural geochemical process that acts as a planetary thermostat, but usually takes thousands of years
• Terradot, founded in 2022 at Stanford University, is accelerating the process by grinding basalt to powder and deploying it in tropical, acidic soils like those in Brazil’s Cerrado
• This method not only captures carbon but also improves soil health and crop yields, offering a dual benefit for climate and food systems
• Despite high verification costs and limited field data at scale, the method is gaining traction as global carbon removal targets intensify

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: To meet the 1.5°C climate target, the world may need to remove up to 10 gigatons of CO₂ annually by 2050 — a figure greater than the U.S.’s current emissions
• Enhanced rock weathering could contribute significantly, especially in the Global South, where land and climate conditions are favorable
• Terradot’s model, which partners with local farmers and repurposes byproducts from nearby quarries, offers a scalable, nature-based solution
• However, credible monitoring remains critical to ensure robust carbon accounting and avoid the pitfalls seen in other carbon offset markets

⏭️ What's next: Terradot aims to reduce its measurement costs by developing predictive models based on thousands of soil and water data points, enabling scalable carbon quantification
• The company plans to publish its data after issuing credits and is moving toward commercial-scale deployment
• While early scientific consensus supports the process’s potential, peer-reviewed studies at field scale are still emerging
• If verified successfully, this approach could become a cornerstone of global carbon removal strategies in the coming decade

💬 One quote: “We are trained to be so critical as academics, but right now, we need speed and scale. We need to think about how we take our solutions to the world and how we do that fast.” – Scott Fendorf, Chief Scientist, Terradot

📈 One stat: Terradot has signed contracts to remove 300,000 tons of CO₂, with its first carbon credit expected to be issued by the end of 2025

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