Science Meets Parliament

Ian participated in Science Meets Parliament organized by the Canadian Science Policy Centre. The goal of this event is to foster two-way communication between scientists and policy makers, encouraging evidence-based decision making. This two day event took place in Ottawa, which included a panel discussion with Tri-Agency and CFI leaders, and talks on science communication. Ian met with Senator Stan Kutcher, Minister Sebastien Lemire (Bloc Québécois), and Minister Pam Damoff (Liberals). This event was also a wonderful opportunity to meet Canada Research Chairs (Tier 2) and Banting postdoctoral fellows. Senator Kutcher’s advice was to have a loud, sustained, and united voice in order to nudge governments.

ERW at Haliburton Forest

Exploring the intricate interplay between soil and minerals, Larissa and Robbie have initiated a column weathering experiment at the PowerGeolab to investigate enhanced rock weathering in forest soils in Southern Ontario, Canada. Using soil from Haliburton Forest and Wild Life Reserve, twenty-one columns were filled and amended to evaluate variations in pH, cation availability, and total carbon content.

The experiment seeks to replicate the weathering processes of wollastonite (CaSiO3) and diopside (CaMgSi2O6) by reconstructing soil horizons within the columns and subjecting them to wetting and drying cycles, aiming to decipher underlying mechanisms.

Key parameters including dissolved inorganic carbon, major cations (i.e., calcium and silicon), and pH levels in column drainage waters are being analyzed to gain insights into mineral weathering rates and their role in CO2removal.

This research not only enhances our comprehension of soil dynamics but also provides crucial insights for ecosystem management and sustainable land practices, particularly in addressing climate change challenges.

Good Curling!

The PowerGeolab took part in Curling Day in Canada at the Peterborough Curling Club. Although we know our stones, we still needed to learn how to throw, sweep, and score them! Glad lab alumni Justin and Duncan joined, and thanks to Zivi for organizing! HURRY HARD!!!

2023 Google Carbon Removal Research Awards

Very excited to announce that our lab, along with teams led by Shaun Watmough (Trent) and Noah Planavsky (Yale University) are recipients of a 2023 Google Carbon Removal Research Award! These awards “aim to fund selected research efforts to better characterize and accelerate the development of new carbon removal approaches.”

We are proposing a large-scale demonstration project to sequester 1000s of tonnes of CO2 per year through enhanced weathering of wollastonite, a calcium silicate. The objectives are to quantify CO2 removal and assess responses to forest health. Canadian Wollastonite have 17 million tonnes of wollastonite that readily reacts with CO2 and has very low heavy metals, making it the best mineral for enhanced weathering. Haliburton Forest has 40,000 hectares of managed forests where selective harvesting occurs. Roads and trails used for harvesting will provide access for spreaders, and the proximity of the mine and forest (~300 km) will minimize transportation. Historic acid rain has depleted calcium levels in North American forest soils, resulting in forest health degradation. Applying wollastonite will supply calcium and nutrients, adjust pH, and consume CO2. This project will be amongst the largest enhanced weathering projects to date, demonstrating this technology at scale.

De Beers CarbonVault Workshop

It was a fantastic day at DeBeers’ Calgary office for the last CarbonVault workshop! Thanks to De Beers and all their staff, Alison from Lorax Environmental, the postdocs and students who contributed amazing research, and my collaborators at the University of Alberta, Queensland University, and the University of British Columbia! In the past 7 years, we pushed forward CO2 removal using mine wastes, and developed new technologies and carbon verification methods. At Trent University, we developed new techniques for assessing mine waste reactivity with CO2 and demonstrated that particular mine wastes remove CO2 from the atmosphere. We also developed geochemical models for determining baseline carbonation rates using existing mine water chemical data and showed how pre-existing carbonates present challenges for carbon verification. Finally, our work has demonstrated that mine wastes from diamond mines have the potential to be used for enhanced weathering as part of mine closure, remediation and revegetation, which could lead to substantial CO2 removal.

New Publication: Mining industry's role in enhanced weathering and mineralization

Carlos, Kwon and I published a Perspective in Environmental Science & Technology; a brief review of enhanced weathering and mineralization and explanation of how mining companies can play essential roles in the development and deployment of these geochemical CO2 removal technologies.

Abstract

Enhanced weathering and mineralization (EWM) aim to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere by accelerating the reaction of this greenhouse gas with alkaline minerals. This suite of geochemical negative emissions technologies has the potential to achieve CO2 removal rates of >1 gigatonne per year, yet will require gigatonnes of suitable rock. As a supplier of rock powder, the mining industry will be at the epicenter of the global implementation of EWM. Certain alkaline mine wastes sequester CO2 under conventional mining conditions, which should be quantified across the industry. Furthermore, mines are ideal locations for testing acceleration strategies since tailings impoundments are contained and highly monitored. While some environmentally benign mine wastes may be repurposed for off-site use─reducing costs and risks associated with their storage─numerous new mines will be needed to supply rock powders to reach the gigatonne scale. Large-scale EWM pilots with mining companies are required to progress technology readiness, including carbon verification approaches. With its knowledge of geological formations and ore processing, the mining industry can play an essential role in extracting the most reactive rocks with the greatest CO2 removal capacities, creating supply chains, and participating in life-cycle assessments. The motivations for mining companies to develop EWM include reputational benefits and carbon offsets needed to achieve carbon neutrality.

IIES in Chile 2023

This December, Ian and Heather had a chance to present their research on mine tailings and agricultural carbon sequestration at a conference in Chile held by the International Institute for Environmental Sciences. It was a busy week of fascinating talks on environmental health and remediation, circular economies and Indigenous knowledge. We also had the opportunity to visit the province of Llanquihue, home to two active stratovolcanoes, a geologist's dream! Thank you, IIES, for providing funding and to our Chilean host universities for a wonderful conference!

Vietnam field research

Xin chào from Vietnam! Ian and Zivi explored numerous environments, including dunes, mangroves, tropical forests, Mekong Delta deposits, and the basaltic pluton of the Cat Tien jungle. Thank you, Dr. Huy Dang for organizing a fantastic trip, and we very much appreciate our host Khai Ha Qiang and his students from Ho Chi Minh University of Technology! See you on our turf next year!

New Publication in Chemical Geology

Former master’s student Amanda Stubbs published an exciting study in Chemical Geology. Amanda performed wet-dry cycling experiments for one year to simulate weathering of powdered brucite, wollastonite, serpentinite, and kimberlite residues. Quantitative mineralogy, total inorganic carbon, and stable and radiogenic carbon isotopes were used to verify carbon storage. Her study explains how and when these tools may be utilized successfully and, in other situations, may be misleading. For example, stable and radiogenic carbon isotopes generally lead to erroneous results due to CO2 exchange and kinetic fractionation and must be paired with other techniques. This study has implications for CO2 mineralization within mine waste and enhanced rock weathering, as carbon verification remains one of the greatest obstacles to the widespread deployment of these technologies. Download this paper and others from the Publications page.

Soil sampling at Haliburton Forest

Ian and Larissa teamed up with folks from the Watmough Environmental Geoscience Group and Yale’s Center for Natural Carbon Capture to begin research at Haliburton Forest & Wild Life Reserve. The Haliburton Forest Project aims to sequester tonnes of CO2 and improve overall forest health via the enhanced rock weathering of wollastonite. This project will entail annual spreading of wollastonite, and establish long-term monitoring stations across four sites located within Haliburton Forests 100,000 acres.  To date, the team has collected over 300 baseline soil and water samples from each site and begun preliminary analysis of geochemistry, mineralogical composition, and total inorganic carbon.