Enhanced rock weathering speeds up a natural process that has been helping remove CO2 from the air for millions of years. This natural process removes about 1 billion tonnes of CO2 every year.
When it rains, CO2 in the atmosphere turns into an acid called carbonic acid. This acid reacts with rocks and soil, solidifying the CO2. Eventually, the carbon captured during the enhanced rock weathering process is washed out to sea, where it helps deacidify our oceans and is used by marine creatures to build their shells. In the sea, the carbon is stored safely for over 100,000 years.
Enhanced rock weathering projects make this process faster by spreading crushed silicate rock on fields. The small rock pieces have a larger surface area to react with carbonic acid, which helps store carbon more quickly. When used on farm lands, this method also boosts soil health and reduces the need for fertilizers.
UNDO operates in UK, Australia & Canada. In each of these locations they minimize the distance between where they source the rock and where they spread it, to keep their operational emissions as low as possible. Their advantage lies in using existing production, infrastructure, and delivery systems, allowing them implement and scale rapidly, while maintaining a high carbon efficiency of 90-95%. They also work with local contractors, providing green jobs in rural agricultural communities.
As always, UNDO's own operational emissions are subtracted from the final quantity of removed CO2, so you can rest assured that you are getting 100% of the promised impact.
UNDO impacts the following SDG's:
Why UNDO’s Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) project? Well, we’re all about carbon removal projects that are guaranteed to keep the removed carbon locked up for a looong time and the additional benefits that UNDO’s projects provide also help.
When spreading the rock on agricultural land. the nutrients and minerals in the rocks improve the health of the soil and can increase the yield for farmers. This, in combination with the green jobs that are provided by UNDO and the fact that the enhanced weathering rock is provided and spread free of charge, provides significant support to rural communities. But ERW isn’t just helpful on land. When the removed carbon is eventually washed out to sea, it helps deacidify our oceans and is used by marine creatures to build their shells. Hooray for sea snails!
The trickier part of ERW is in the carbon dioxide bookkeeping. Since the removal is done through a natural, geological process, it's very difficult to know exactly how much carbon is being removed from the atmosphere. UNDO continues to conduct a lot of lab and field research to determine the amount of carbon that is being removed and how long it takes, but it remains an estimate. In addition, the carbon removal happens over the course of years, which makes it difficult to say when exactly the carbon is being removed.
Overall, we consider the UNDO project to be a great carbon removal project, with some nice co-benefits to local farming communities and our underwater friends. While it comes at a relatively high price, it’s still considerably cheaper than DAC projects. The only compromise to be made is on the certainty of the exact removal quantity, but we can expect this to improve as more research is done.
We understand that you want to know where your money goes, so we're showing you the money.
2024-2029
Uitleggen wat dit betekent en waarom deze timing
Verification standard used: Puro.earth
Auditor & report: 350 Solutions
Registry: Puro
