Potential for large-scale CO2 removal via enhanced rock weathering with croplands.

Enhanced silicate rock weathering (ERW), deployable with croplands, has potential use for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) removal (CDR), which is now necessary to mitigate anthropogenic climate change1. ERW also has possible co-benefits for improved food and soil security, and reduced ocean acidification2-4. Here we use an integrated performance modelling approach to make an initial techno-economic assessment for 2050, quantifying how CDR potential and costs vary among nations in relation to business-as-usual energy policies and policies consistent with limiting future warming to 2 degrees Celsius5. China, India, the USA and Brazil have great potential to help achieve average global CDR goals of 0.5 to 2 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year with extraction costs of approximately US$80-180 per tonne of CO2. These goals and costs are robust, regardless of future energy policies. Deployment within existing croplands offers opportunities to align agriculture and climate policy. However, success will depend upon overcoming political and social inertia to develop regulatory and incentive frameworks. We discuss the challenges and opportunities of ERW deployment, including the potential for excess industrial silicate materials (basalt mine overburden, concrete, and iron and steel slag) to obviate the need for new mining, as well as uncertainties in soil weathering rates and land-ocean transfer of weathered products.

Comparison of Low Cost Miniature Spectrometers for Volcanic SO(2) Emission Measurements.

Miniature ultraviolet USB coupled spectrometers have become ubiquitously applied over the last decade for making volcanic SO(2) emission rate measurements. The dominantly applied unit has recently been discontinued however, raising the question of which currently available devices should now be implemented. In this paper, we consider, and make recommendations on this matter, by studying a number of inexpensive compact spectrometers in respect of measurement performance and thermal behaviour. Of the studied units, the Avaspec demonstrated the best prospects for the highest time resolution applications, but in the majority of cases, we anticipate users likely preferring the less bulky USB2000+s.

Ground Based Ultraviolet Remote Sensing of Volcanic Gas Plumes.

Ultraviolet spectroscopy has been implemented for over thirty years to monitorvolcanic SO2 emissions. These data have provided valuable information concerningunderground magmatic conditions, which have been of utility in eruption forecastingefforts. During the last decade the traditionally used correlation spectrometers have beenupgraded with miniature USB coupled UV spectrometers, opening a series of exciting newempirical possibilities for understanding volcanoes and their impacts upon the atmosphere.Here we review these technological developments, in addition to the scientific insightsthey have precipitated, covering the strengths and current limitations of this approach.