In December 2022, the carbon credit platform Puro added a methodology for enhanced rock weathering (ERW) credits. This announcement opens the door for the ERW to be sold into the billion-dollar voluntary carbon marks. 

ERW is one of the oldest known forms of carbon removal, long studied by geologists. But it is only recently that a growing number of startups are applying the science of this technique on a larger scale. 

Other businesses are taking note. Microsoft is expanding its carbon removal portfolio to include ERW credits purchased from UNDO. They will pay the Scottish company to spread basaltic rock onto farmland, hoping to sequester 5000 tons of CO2 over the next few decades. 

ERW can potentially deliver massive amounts of CDR if scaled up. Nearly every country has the necessary basaltic rock to spread on its farmland and it doesn’t require any new technological innovations. But an industry large enough to affect global temperatures will need to build lots of new infrastructure, supply chains, and rock crushers.

That’s going to take significant investment, along with MRV, that can grow with the industry.

Is all that possible? Today we’ll discuss this exciting technique's business dimensions with our business panel. Welcome, Susan Su and Na’im Merchant.

On This Episode

Na’im Merchant

Susan Su

Radhika Moolgavkar

Resources

New Puro Methodology

UNDO/Microsoft Announcement

Energy Monitor Article on ERW Business

South Pole Investigation

Climeworks Expansion Announcement

Ebb Carbon Funding

Connect with Nori

Nori

Nori’s Twitter

Nori’s other podcast Reversing Climate Change

Nori’s CDR meme twitter account