Spreading rock dust across the UK’s farmland could provide almost half of the amount of carbon dioxide sequestration

It’s been known for a long time that broken rock or rock-dust can absorb vast amounts of carbon dioxide from the air. Getting all the UK farmers to spread rock-dust across all of the UK’s farmland could managed to sequester virtually half of the amount of carbon dioxide that the country needs to remove to achieve its net zero target by 2050. Researchers at the University of Sheffield have looked at statistics from past Basalt mining and new sophistication models on soil chemistry to find that sprinkling rock dust on the UK fields could allow for the absorption of between 6 and 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, which is about 45% of the carbon needed to be removed from the country. The cost of doing this is much cheaper than using many other types of direct carbon capture technology. This research is still very much new and tested but with current trials going on this does look like a hopeful way of solving our carbon dioxide crisis.


 

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