Supplementing Enhanced Weathering With Organic Amendments Accelerates the Net Climate Benefit of Soil Amendments in Rangeland Soils
Abstract Carbon dioxide (CO2) removal (carbon dioxide removal (CDR)) that combines decreased greenhouse gas emissions with atmospheric CO2 reduction is needed to limit climate change. Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) of ground silicate minerals is an emerging CDR technology with the potential to decre...
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Wiley
2025-04-01
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| Series: | AGU Advances |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024AV001480 |
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| author | Tyler L. Anthony Andrew R. Jones Whendee L. Silver |
| author_facet | Tyler L. Anthony Andrew R. Jones Whendee L. Silver |
| author_sort | Tyler L. Anthony |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Carbon dioxide (CO2) removal (carbon dioxide removal (CDR)) that combines decreased greenhouse gas emissions with atmospheric CO2 reduction is needed to limit climate change. Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) of ground silicate minerals is an emerging CDR technology with the potential to decrease atmospheric CO2. However, there are few multi‐year field studies and considerable uncertainty in field‐rates of ERW. We explored combining finely ground metabasaltic rock with other soil CDR technologies (compost and biochar amendments) to stimulate carbon (C) sequestration. The combined ground rock (GR), compost, and biochar amendment had the greatest increases in soil C stocks over 3 years (15.3 ± 4.8 Mg C ha−1). All other treatments slowed or reversed background C losses, with GR‐only treatments reducing rates of soil C loss relative to the control but still losing soil C over time. Ground rock amendments lowered nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions by 11.0 ± 0.6 kg CO2e ha−1 yr−1 and increased methane (CH4) consumption by 9.5 ± 3.5 to 18.4 ± 4.4 kg CO2e ha−1 yr−1; while noteworthy, emissions reductions were an order of magnitude smaller than organic C sequestration with compost amendments. The combined amendment yielded the greatest estimated net ecosystem benefit (3 year relative changes in soil C, estimated ERW rates, and greenhouse gas emissions) of −86.0 ± 24.7 Mg CO2e ha−1. Benefits were dominated by soil organic C gains, directly from organic amendments and indirectly from increased plant growth. Weathering rates were <10% of the theoretical potential. Combined ERW and organic amendments increased estimated weathering rates and stimulated soil organic C sequestration. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-abdd6ec860384edc8c5c58844ffa77c9 |
| institution | OA Journals |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
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| series | AGU Advances |
| spelling | doaj-art-abdd6ec860384edc8c5c58844ffa77c92025-08-20T02:28:44ZengWileyAGU Advances2576-604X2025-04-0162n/an/a10.1029/2024AV001480Supplementing Enhanced Weathering With Organic Amendments Accelerates the Net Climate Benefit of Soil Amendments in Rangeland SoilsTyler L. Anthony0Andrew R. Jones1Whendee L. Silver2Ecosystem Science Division Department of Environmental Science Policy and Management University of California at Berkeley Berkeley CA USAEcosystem Science Division Department of Environmental Science Policy and Management University of California at Berkeley Berkeley CA USAEcosystem Science Division Department of Environmental Science Policy and Management University of California at Berkeley Berkeley CA USAAbstract Carbon dioxide (CO2) removal (carbon dioxide removal (CDR)) that combines decreased greenhouse gas emissions with atmospheric CO2 reduction is needed to limit climate change. Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) of ground silicate minerals is an emerging CDR technology with the potential to decrease atmospheric CO2. However, there are few multi‐year field studies and considerable uncertainty in field‐rates of ERW. We explored combining finely ground metabasaltic rock with other soil CDR technologies (compost and biochar amendments) to stimulate carbon (C) sequestration. The combined ground rock (GR), compost, and biochar amendment had the greatest increases in soil C stocks over 3 years (15.3 ± 4.8 Mg C ha−1). All other treatments slowed or reversed background C losses, with GR‐only treatments reducing rates of soil C loss relative to the control but still losing soil C over time. Ground rock amendments lowered nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions by 11.0 ± 0.6 kg CO2e ha−1 yr−1 and increased methane (CH4) consumption by 9.5 ± 3.5 to 18.4 ± 4.4 kg CO2e ha−1 yr−1; while noteworthy, emissions reductions were an order of magnitude smaller than organic C sequestration with compost amendments. The combined amendment yielded the greatest estimated net ecosystem benefit (3 year relative changes in soil C, estimated ERW rates, and greenhouse gas emissions) of −86.0 ± 24.7 Mg CO2e ha−1. Benefits were dominated by soil organic C gains, directly from organic amendments and indirectly from increased plant growth. Weathering rates were <10% of the theoretical potential. Combined ERW and organic amendments increased estimated weathering rates and stimulated soil organic C sequestration.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024AV001480enhanced weatheringsoil amendmentscompostsoil carbonnitrous oxidemethane |
| spellingShingle | Tyler L. Anthony Andrew R. Jones Whendee L. Silver Supplementing Enhanced Weathering With Organic Amendments Accelerates the Net Climate Benefit of Soil Amendments in Rangeland Soils AGU Advances enhanced weathering soil amendments compost soil carbon nitrous oxide methane |
| title | Supplementing Enhanced Weathering With Organic Amendments Accelerates the Net Climate Benefit of Soil Amendments in Rangeland Soils |
| title_full | Supplementing Enhanced Weathering With Organic Amendments Accelerates the Net Climate Benefit of Soil Amendments in Rangeland Soils |
| title_fullStr | Supplementing Enhanced Weathering With Organic Amendments Accelerates the Net Climate Benefit of Soil Amendments in Rangeland Soils |
| title_full_unstemmed | Supplementing Enhanced Weathering With Organic Amendments Accelerates the Net Climate Benefit of Soil Amendments in Rangeland Soils |
| title_short | Supplementing Enhanced Weathering With Organic Amendments Accelerates the Net Climate Benefit of Soil Amendments in Rangeland Soils |
| title_sort | supplementing enhanced weathering with organic amendments accelerates the net climate benefit of soil amendments in rangeland soils |
| topic | enhanced weathering soil amendments compost soil carbon nitrous oxide methane |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024AV001480 |
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