Welcome to the journey of “Project Carbdown,” our three-year mission to know and measure the in-situ results of enhanced rock weathering (ERW) as a method of Carbon Dioxide Elimination (CDR). In a great world, we may measure each course of alongside the way in which and confirm the outcomes. However actuality is extra complicated, slightly like assembling a puzzle with some items lacking.
Drawing from our expertise, we hereby suggest the idea of “stages” to simplify the method. This idea can be used as “scopes” within the Greenhouse Gas Protocol standard to categorize greenhouse gasoline emissions. We’ll apply this similar concept to ERW.
Be aware: This clarification is deliberately simplified to make a fancy course of extra accessible.
MRV Approaches for ERW
When discussing “MRV” (Monitoring, Reporting, Verification) for rock weathering, misunderstandings typically come up as a result of folks consult with totally different “stages” associated to measurement and calculation. Think about attempting to match apples and oranges; consumers and sellers could have totally different expectations about what’s being measured and the way (and likewise what time scales are concerned).
Why does this confusion occur? It is as a result of measuring local weather results turns into more difficult the additional we transfer away from the precise spreading of rock, which is the best half. Consider it as attempting to hint a river’s path from its mouth to its supply; the journey of the dissolved rock mud will get longer and extra complicated as we go from subject to ocean over months and even many years.
Not like easier carbon dioxide elimination strategies, ERW’s complexity makes it practically not possible to measure each element throughout the total seize and storage course of. As we intend to unfold rock over large areas sooner or later, we must depend on fashions and assumptions, utilizing security buffers to cowl uncertainties. However to allow these fashions we’d like quantifications at a smaller scale first.
The methods to quantify these results range, together with measuring tons of unfold rock, dissolution charges of minerals, and even complete alkalinity in leachates. It is a multifaceted course of, like utilizing totally different instruments to construct a fancy construction.
Brief Model (in case you are in hurry)
The 4 levels for MRV of ERW
In just a few sentences the idea appears to be like like this:
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Stage 1: Rock Manufacturing and Transport (The Beginning Line)
Consider this because the preparation stage. We measure the emissions associated to the manufacturing, transport and spreading of rock, which is pretty easy. -
Stage 2: Carbon Seize (The Response Stage)
Right here, the rock reacts with carbonic acid, capturing carbon over years and even many years. We are able to monitor this via metrics just like the rock dissolution fee. This stage is more difficult, like laying the primary few rows of bricks. -
Stage 3: Advanced Soil Processes (The Thriller Stage)
This half entails a collection of complicated soil interactions after rock mud addition. Measuring the rise in cations and alkalinity in leachate waters or the quantity of launched cations parking at trade websites or the totally different carbon swimming pools and fluxes is frequent right here. Nevertheless, a mix of chemical, bodily and organic soil processes could work together with the dissolved base cations and alkalinity, making this stage perplexing like a twist in a thriller novel. -
Stage 4: Transport and Storage (The Closing Vacation spot)
This stage accounts for the losses and delays in transporting and storing carbon in soils, rivers and oceans. Some alkalinity might also stay in groundwater, turning into everlasting carbon storage, too. This stage is hardest to measure, like dropping some crimson dye in a river and in search of it just a few kilometers downstream.
Lengthy Model (with a pleasant graphic)
The 4 levels for MRV of ERW
Within the following graph we’ve got tried to provide you with a thinking-concept of the principle drivers and problems with enhanced rock weathering and to kind them into 4 levels. The primary two levels cowl the seize of the carbon (blue) whereas the final two levels cowl the storage of the carbon (inexperienced):
