Climate change and CO2 removal from the atmosphere

Abstract

Several methods have been proposed in recent years to counteract climate change and ocean acidification by removing CO2 from the atmosphere (Carbon Dioxide Removal). The most versatile and widely applicable of these methods is enhanced weathering of olivine, which is capable of removing billions of tons of CO2 from the atmosphere at moderate cost compared to the high cost of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Despite its disadvantages, CCS is still the favored solution of many governments. Many misunderstandings of the potential of enhanced weathering persist. This paper addresses some of these misunderstandings, mainly caused by models which ignore established facts.