Life cycle impact and cost analysis of quarry materials for land-based enhanced weathering in Northern California

Breunig, Hanna M.; Fox, Patricia; Domen, Jeremy; Kumar, Ram; Alves, Ricardo Jorge Eloy; Zhalnina, Kateryna; Voigtländer, Anne; Deng, Hang; Arora, Bhavna; Nico, Peter

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.143757

Life cycle impact and cost analysis of quarry materials for land-based enhanced weathering in Northern California

Journal Article · Thu Sep 26 00:00:00 EDT 2024 · Journal of Cleaner Production

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.143757· OSTI ID:2448121

^[1]; ^[1]; Domen, Jeremy ^[2]; ^[3]; ^[1]; ^[1]; Voigtländer, Anne ^[1]; Deng, Hang ^[4]; ^[1]; Nico, Peter ^[1]

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Physicians, Scientists, and Engineers for Healthy Energy, Oakland, CA (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Peking Univ., Beijing (China)

Enhanced weathering (EW) is a CO₂ removal (CDR) and sequestration strategy that accelerates the natural reactions of minerals that can store carbon from the atmosphere and biotic reactions. One method of EW is to apply finely ground silicate rocks to agricultural lands. EW has been demonstrated in laboratory and field tests, but great uncertainty remains regarding the life-cycle of using locally available rocks on candidate soils. We evaluate the life-cycle impacts, job creation, and cost of scenarios where fines and rocks mined from quarries in Oregon and Northern California are transported by truck and tilled into agricultural soils. Candidate quarry dust samples were classified as dacite, andesite, and olivine-bearing rocks, with EW potentials ranging from 125-760 kg CO₂/metric tonne rock. We determined the olivine-bearing rock from Southern Oregon could achieve a levelized cost of CDR under the DOE Earthshot target of $$\$$$$100/t CO₂, as long as application rates are 25 t/ha or more. Even andesite and dacite materials reach lower costs than commercial direct air capture technologies, with reduction in fines purchase and transport costs critical for achieving the Earthshot target. The results suggest that low-cost EW can be achieved using natural quarry materials, with average removal up to 2.2 t CO₂e per hectare per year.

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Research Organization:: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program

Grant/Contract Number:: AC07-05ID14517; AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 2448121

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2448419

Report Number(s):: INL/JOU-24-76636-Rev000

Journal Information:: Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 476; ISSN 0959-6526

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
58 GEOSCIENCES
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
enhanced weathering
soil amendment
life cycle assessment
carbon dioxide removal
negative emission technologies

Life cycle impact and cost analysis of quarry materials for land-based enhanced weathering in Northern California

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