The Challenge
OR: The need for negative CO2 emissions.
Negative emission technologies are essential to limit global change
Preventing the release of CO2 and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere will not be enough to meet set climate targets (The Paris Agreement, UNFCCC). All parties at the 2015 climate summit in Paris committed themselves to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 °C, in fact to below 1.5 °C, which necessitates that global CO2 emissions become negative by 2070. Active removal of CO2 using negative emissions technologies (NETs) will be essential to achieve this, in addition to conventional mitigation, i.e., preventing CO2 and other greenhouse gases from being released to the atmosphere.
Emerging negative emissions technologies (NETs)
There are numerous NETs which have been proposed to help reduce emissions but none have been well studied so far. Such technologies include, but are not limited to, afforestation and reforestation, bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration (BECCS), direct air capture (DAC), biochar and soil carbon sequestration (SCS), the fertilization of the oceans as well as enhanced weathering (Minx et al., 2017).
Read more on NETs:
- Betting on negative emissions: Fuss et al. (2014). Nat. Clim. Change 4: 850-854.
- Fast growing research on NETs: Minx et al. (2017). Environ. Res. Lett. 12: 035007.
- The Paris Agreement UNFCCC
- CO2 utilization pathways: Hepburn et al. (2019). Nature 575: 87–97.
- Policy Brief: Negative Emissions: Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) (2016).
The Idea
When silicate minerals are chemically weathered, a slow dissolution process is initiated. By artificially increasing the weathering rate of silicate minerals, ESW aims to speed up the natural CO2 neutralization process.
The Project
The key scientific challenge of the project is to examine the economic viability and environmental
feasibility of this new, innovative NET: ESW integrated into coastal zone management, i.e., coastal ESW.
The Infrastructure
Unique mesocosm facilities enable to closely track the silicate dissolution dynamics in a natural setting, while offering the possibility to test different application scenarios. Ideal for studying coastal ESW!
Collaboration?
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News
Check out the latest news of the Project here.
Read and watch here
Publications
Check out the latest publications on enhanced silicate weathering.
Read more here
About Us
Prof. Filip Meysman heads Belgian’s research on coastal enhanced silicate weathering.
Get In Touch
Email:
coastalesw(at)gmail.com
Telephone:
+32 494 06 43 27
Drop By
University of Antwerp
Campus Drie Eiken
Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
Enhanced silicate weathering in coastal environments 