A Solution in Plain Sight

CLIMATE CHANGE SERIES

- KRISHNA GUPTA

Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) is another pathway to CDR and is slowly gaining popularity. The best part of ERW is that it is really simple, with the science having been around for a long time. As the name suggests, ERW is nothing but weathering of rocks at an accelerated and enhanced pace and is a nature-based solution to lock away carbon dioxide.

Rock weathering, as we know, is a natural process that takes place over hundreds of years, which not only neutralizes the carbon dioxide in the air but also wears down massive mountains. This process that takes hundreds of years is sought to be accelerated in ERW, so that large amounts of carbon dioxide are removed from the air in a far shorter time period. Let us discuss this in more detail.