A truck spreads lime on a meadow to increase the soil’s fertility in Yorkshire Dales, UK. Farm Images / Universal Images Group via Getty Images As we look for advanced technology to replace our dependence on fossil fuels and to rid the oceans of plastic , one solution to the climate crisis might simply be found in rocks. New research found that dispersing rock dust over farmland could suck billions of tons of carbon dioxide from the air every year, according to the first detailed large scale analysis of the technique, as The Guardian reported. The study , published Wednesday in the journal Nature, found the technique could pull enough carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to remove about half of the amount of that greenhouse gas currently produced by Europe. To put it another way, that would mean pulling more CO2 from the atmosphere than the current total emissions from global aviation and shipping combined, according to a press release from the University of Sheffield where the study was conducted. "Spreading rock dust on agricultural land is a straightforward, practical CO2 drawdown approach with the potential to boost soil health and food production, said David Beerling, director of the […]
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