Transforming US agriculture for carbon removal with enhanced weathering

Enhanced weathering (EW) with agriculture uses crushed silicate rocks to drive carbon dioxide removal (CDR). If widely adopted on farmlands, it could help achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Here we show, with a detailed US state-specifc carbon cycle analysis constrained by resource provision, that EW deployed on agricultural land could sequester 0.16–0.30 GtCO2 yr−1 by 2050, rising to 0.25–0.49 GtCO2 yr−1 by 2070. Geochemical assessment of rivers and oceans suggests efective transport of dissolved products from EW from soils, ofering CDR on intergenerational timescales.
Our analysis further indicates that EW may temporarily help lower ground-level ozone and concentrations of secondary aerosols in agricultural regions. Geospatially mapped CDR costs show heterogeneity across the USA, refecting a combination of cropland distance from basalt source regions, timing of EW deployment and evolving CDR rates. CDR costs are highest in the frst two decades before declining to about
US$100–150 tCO2−1 by 2050, including for states that contribute most to total national CDR. Although EW cannot be a substitute for emission reductions, our assessment strengthens the case for EW as an overlooked practical innovation for helping the USA meet net-zero 2050 goals. Public awareness of EW and equity impacts of EW deployment across the USA require further exploration and we note that mobilizing
an EW industry at the necessary scale could take decades.