Blogs
A selection of articles relating to the Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation.
2024
Spreading rock dust on farms boosts crop yields and captures CO2
28 March 2024
Spreading crushed rock on farms is gaining traction as a method of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Now, two independent tests of the approach on farms in the US Midwest and in the UK have found it can also substantially increase crop yields.
PhD spotlight: Mike Kelland's experience
13 March 2024
Our new blog series continues to explore our PhD students' work within LC3M. Here, we hear from Mike Kelland on his experiences as a mature student, why he chose climate change mitigation and his thoughts on the future of ERW.
2023
PhD spotlight: LC3M philosophy student Elliott Woodhouse and the environmental ethics of climate engineering
5 December 2023
In the first of our PhD spotlight series, Elliott share insights from his recent thesis on the environmental ethics of climate engineering.
2022
Enhanced weathering – using ground-up rocks to draw carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere
17 February 2022
Enhanced weathering – using ground-up rocks to draw carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere – is one of a number of technological carbon capture solutions being tested to try and mitigate against global warming.
The New Scientist team speaks to Professor David Beerling of the University of Sheffield; one of the scientists in the UK leading the development of this technique.
Read article on The New Scientist
2021
Geological solutions for carbon dioxide removal
1 September 2021
To meet targets set in the Paris Agreement, we must stop emissions and actively strip carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Professor Rachael James, Dr Christina Larkin and colleagues discuss two geological techniques – enhanced rock weathering and carbon mineralisation – that show promise for CO2 removal.
Read article in Geoscientist: the magazine of the Geological Society of London
Petroleum Review: ‘Time to listen’ by Dr Emily Cox
1 April 2021
Public controversies over new energy technology developments can have wide-reaching consequences.
For full access log-in to the Energy Institute.
2020
Podcast: Can basalt answer our soil health and climate change problems?
12 October 2020
Into The Anthropocene. The Science of Conservation.
Episode #3: Professor David Beerling, Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation (LC3M), speaks about a potential solution for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere which may also help rebuild the health of our soils.
Conservation journalist, Byron Pace, speaks with scientists, environmental advocates, conservationists, wildlife managers and a diverse array of global guests, to uncover the complex nature of the world we live. Into The Anthropocene aims to make the science of conservation more accessible, exploring stories and research from the frontline. Only through understanding our world can we improve our decision making and define the Anthropocene for the betterment of humanity and the planet.
Listen to the podcast on Into The Anthropocene
Voices Magazine: ‘Negative emissions technologies: the role of society’ by Dr Emily Cox
21 August 2020
Negative-emissions technology (NET) proposals are many and varied, and each has a unique mix of risks and co-benefits; therefore, there will be no single greatest barrier. But one important consideration that is often overlooked is the interaction with wider society and the general public.
Read article on Voices Magazine online
‘Behind the paper’ series: Climate urgency dampens public acceptance of carbon dioxide removal
9 July 2020
A new public conversation about the urgency of climate change is important for people’s perceptions of CO2 removal technologies, but doing fieldwork in the midst of extreme weather is never easy. by Dr Elspeth Spence and Dr Emily Cox, Understanding Risk Group, Cardiff University.
Read article on nature research
Nature Podcast: Climate Rocks!
8 July 2020
On this week’s podcast, an ambitious Mars mission from a young space agency, and how crumbling up rocks could help fight climate change.
Researchers have assessed whether Enhanced Rock Weathering – a technique to pull carbon dioxide out of the air – has the potential to help battle climate change. Research Article: Beerling et al.
Listen in at 12:12
Guest post: Dr Emily Cox – How public attitudes towards CO2 removal differ in the UK and US
7 July 2020
With global greenhouse gas emissions still increasing – and Covid-19 lockdown restrictions merely causing a short-term dip – the challenge of holding global temperature rise to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels is looking ever more formidable.
Achieving this goal looks increasingly unlikely without taking previously emitted CO2 out of the atmosphere – using carbon dioxide removal (CDR) or “negative emissions” techniques.
Podcast: Rock Dust to the Rescue!
28 April 2020
Hi and welcome to this week’s Fix the Planet. I’ve been chatting to people about a method of carbon-dioxide removal that doesn’t grab the headlines in the way that CO2-absoring machines and tree planting do: scattering pulverised rock over the Earth’s surface. Many rocks naturally absorb CO2, but this doesn’t happen fast enough to avert the sort of dangerous warming we’re headed for.
“Essentially, it’s a natural process that happens anyway in the world, but at a comparatively slow rate,” says Mike Kelland, LC3M PhD Student at the University of Sheffield, UK. Breaking up the rock, a process known as enhanced weathering, increases its surface area and the rate at which CO2 is absorbed.
Read article on The New Scientist
2019
Blog: Can plants help us avoid a climate catastrophe?
9 May 2019
Read David Beerling’s blog, with Oxford University Press, on why we actually have to start removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, safely and affordably, within the next 20 years. Drastic phase-down of our carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels will be insufficient to avoid catastrophic human-caused climate change. Enter, the kingdom of plants…
Hundreds of millions of years ago, plants bioengineered a cooler climate as the spread of forests lowered atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. We now think it may be possible to mimic those processes to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Read article on Oxford University Press blog
2018
Guest Post: How ‘enhanced weathering’ could slow climate change and boost crop yields
20 February 2018
Guest post by Professor David Beerling and Professor Stephen Long to coincide with the Nature Plants paper ‘Farming with crops and rocks to address global climate, food and soil security’, published 19 February 2018.
The paper tackles the under-discussed technique of CO2 removal called ‘enhanced rock weathering’ and highlights the potential wider benefits for crop yields and soil health, and sets out a research agenda for the next steps.
2017
Blog: Rock, paper, mini-series
5 April 2017
Biology Letters has just published a mini-series on “Enhanced rock weathering: biological climate change mitigation with co-benefits for food security”. To coincide with publication, we asked Guest Editor, Professor David J Beerling FRS, why he commissioned this series and what the research can tell us about the future.