Startup Series: Enhanced Rock Weathering w/ Lithos Carbon & Eion Carbon

Both Lithos and Eion work in the space of enhanced rock weathering, a subset of carbon removal that seeks to speed up the planet's natural carbon cycle. In this process, rain absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere, falls onto and weathers rocks and in doing so creates a bicarbonate solution that eventually finds its way into the ocean for permanent carbon sequestration. For all the talk of engineered carbon capture solutions, rock weathering is about as natural as you can get. It's the foundation of the earth's long carbon cycle, and it also takes place over millions of years, so a bit longer than we need right now.

In this episode, we seek to understand what it means to speed up this natural process and apply it to agriculture such that it can be a viable carbon sink in the decade-scale timeframe we need to address climate change. We have a great discussion about the long carbon cycle itself, the different types of rocks found on earth, how agriculture uses mineral inputs today, and some of the underlying economics of this method as a carbon removal technology. We also learn more about Lithos and Eion, plus Mary and Adam’s personal climate journeys.

In today’s episode, we cover:

Broad overview of the long carbon cycle
The power of acid rain in removing CO2 from the atmosphere
Earth as a habitable planet compared to Venus
An overview of bicarbonates
How enhanced rock weathering speeds up this carbon capture solution
Different types of rocks used for enhanced rock weathering
Benefits and drawbacks of using limestone
Energy demands of creating the Lithos and Eion products
Transportation challenges
Mary and Adam's MRV methods
Their company's business models

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Episode recorded on July 29, 2022.

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant