InPlanet is an enhanced weathering company spreading rock dust on agricultural fields to draw down CO2. In November, it announced a new investment of $4.6 million from a group of investors. Based in Germany, InPlanet collaborates with farmers in Brazil, aiming to remove 1 million tons of CO2 by 2026.
As they work to scale their operations, they face a similar challenge all ERW operations are dealing with right now. While the basic science of rock weathering is well understood, accurately measuring CO2 removal in real-world conditions remains a significant hurdle.
Ensuring trust in the process will require improved measurement and verification from what exists today- a problem InPlanet is working to solve.
On this episode we’re joined by InPlanet’s Head of Carbon Matthew Clarkson who recently released pre-print research evaluating the different methods of measuring CO2 removal from rock weathering and made recommendations for areas of improvement.
ERW is technologically ready, has co-benefits, and has already attracted significant investment. It is ready to grow to climate relevant scale- but only if it can be properly measured.
On this episode we’ll talk with Matthew about his MRV research, working on the ground with Brazilian farmers, and what hurdles he sees to InPlanet’s goal of megaton removal in the next three years.
On This Episode
Resources
Bloomberg article on ERW funding
Connect with Nori
Nori’s other podcast Reversing Climate Change
Nori’s CDR meme twitter account