Several methods
have been proposed in recent years to counteract climate change and ocean acidification
by removing CO2 from the atmosphere (Carbon Dioxide Removal). The
most versatile and widely applicable of these methods is enhanced weathering of
olivine, which is capable of removing billions of tons of CO2 from
the atmosphere at moderate cost compared to the high cost of Carbon Capture and
Storage (CCS). Despite its disadvantages, CCS is still the favored solution of
many governments. Many misunderstandings of the potential of enhanced
weathering persist. This paper addresses some of these misunderstandings,
mainly caused by models which ignore established facts.
References
[1]
Schuiling, R.D. (2009) Real Geological Storage of CO2. Greenhouse Issues No. 93, 17-18.
Larsen, I.J., Almond, P.C., Ege, A., Stone, J.O., Montgomery, D.R. and Malcolm, B.(2014) Rapid Soil Production and Weathering in the Western Alps, New Zealand. Science, 343, 637-643. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1244908
[4]
Van Scholl, L., Kuyper, Th.W., Smits, M.M., Landeweert, R., Hoffland, E. and Van Bremen, N. (2008) Rock-Eating Mycorrhizas: Their Role in Plant Nutrition and Biogeochemical Cycles. Plant Soil, 303, 35-47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11104-007-9513-0
[5]
Schuiling, R.D., Tickell, O. and Wilson, S.A. (2011) Climate Change and the KISS Principle. Poster presented at the 2011 Goldschmidt Conference in Prague.
[6]
Kohler, P., Hartmann, J. and Wolf-Gladrow, D.A. (2010) The Geoengineering Potential of Artificially Enhanced Silicate Weathering of Olivine. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 147, 20228-20233. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1000545107
[7]
Wilson, S.A., Dipple, G.M., Power, I.M., Thom, J.M., Anderson., R.G., Raudsepp, M., Gabites, J.E. and Southam, G. (2009) Carbon Dioxide Fixation within Mine Waste of Ultramafic Hosted Ore Deposits: Examples from the Clinton Creek and Cassiar Chrysotile Deposits, Canada. Economic Geology, 104, 95-112. http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gsecongeo.104.1.95
[8]
Power, I.M., Wilson, S.A., Dipple, G.M. and Southam, G. (2011) Modern Carbonate Microbialites from an Asbestos Open Pit Pond, Yukon, Canada. Geobiology, 9, 180-195.
[9]
Hangx, S.J.T. and Spiers, C.J. (2009) Coastal Spreading of Olivine to Control Atmospheric CO2 Concentrations: A Critical Analysis of Viability. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 3, 757-767. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2009.07.001
[10]
Schuiling, R.D. and de Boer, P.L. (2013) Six Commercially Viable Ways to Remove CO2 from the Atmosphere and/or Reduce CO2 Emissions. Environmental Sciences Europe, 25, 35.
