Why Brazil?

An inside look at why InPlanet is getting the most of Enhanced Rock Weathering through farms in Brazil

It was on a road trip through the vast farmlands of Brazil that InPlanet’s COO Niklas Kluger and CEO Felix Harteneck first had the vision of founding InPlanet. Niklas had studied various carbon removal techniques during his master’s and gained hands-on agricultural experience in agroforestry, reforestation, and soil restoration while working with farmers in Brazil. Enhanced Rock Weathering in Brazil attracted his interest due to the outstanding co-benefits and conditions in the country. At the same time, Felix understood the appealing economics behind the technology and saw that Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) could be scalable and, therefore, valuable to our planet. Collectively, they were inspired by its potential to revolutionize sustainable agriculture and combat climate change. They decided to found InPlanet and set up the first ERW enterprise in Brazil in August 2022.

These are some of the many reasons why Enhanced Rock Weathering in Brazil is a particularly promising activity to scale Enhanced Rock Weathering for Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR), while having profound agricultural benefits.

The Climate 

There are two main climatic factors that significantly accelerate carbon dioxide removal through rock weathering: rain and heat. Abundant rainfall is crucial, as dissolving minerals requires water. Additionally, warm temperatures speed up the rate of dissolution, leading to faster carbon dioxide removal.

Therefore, Brazil’s climate creates the perfect environment for EW, with weathering rates more than ten times higher than temperate regions like Europe or the USA. The maps below show how Brazil is a sweet spot, with a high mean annual temperatures and rainfall.

Scalability

Land availability 

Rock Powder available 

In addition to expansive farmlands to apply our products, high-quality rock powder is the key component to implement and expand ERW projects. 

Brazil’s robust mining and quarrying sectors provide abundant amounts of feedstock, which is produced as a by-product of their operations. InPlanet repurposes this rock powder for carbon removal, contributing to a circular economy.

The best part is that Brazil has a large mining industry that will be able to provide large amounts of feedstock to scale ERW and meaningfully contribute to climate mitigation targets by 2050. 

This means that, in Brazil, we do not need to establish new mines for rock powder; as we have rock powder already available in a network of mines around the country, with millions of tonnes already in stock. 

The combination of ample land for application and abundant rock powder resources make our work in Brazil exceptionally scalable, presenting unparalleled opportunities for impactful carbon dioxide removal efforts.

Pioneering research and legal framework for Enhanced Rock Weathering

Brazil pioneered academic research that explores the benefits of rock powder since the 1950s. A movement of scientists called Rochagem (“rockage”) has been studying and promoting the use of natural rock powder fertilizers (referred to as ‘remineralizers’) since then. Brazil has also hosted five international conferences on rock powders in 2022 and has a unique collaborative industry voice through the Brazilian Association of Producers of Soil Remineralizers and Natural Fertilizers (ABREFEN).The result of efforts by the rochagem community was a legal framework for the exclusive certification of rock powders in agriculture (‘remineralizers’), which goes beyond the incorporation of rock powders into generic amendment regulations seen elsewhere.

Co-benefits where they are most needed

Tropical soils have been significantly depleted of nutrients due to enduring intense weathering conditions for millions of years. Consequently, extensive fertilizer application has become increasingly common, affecting soils’ acidity and requiring even more chemical feedstock to raise the pH – a practice that comes with a high financial and environmental price.

Moreover, chemical fertilizers can contribute to the loss of minerals in the soil, making farms more dependent on even higher fertilizer applications, which creates a vicious cycle of increasing fertilizer use and soil degradation. Rock powder is treating the source of the problem, naturally releasing minerals in the soils and restoring the health of the land.

It is essential to note that Brazil feeds some 10% of the world’s population. Restoring the health of soils in Brazil means improving the nutritional quality of the produce that will be exported worldwide. Therefore, addressing soil degradation in tropical regions is not only crucial for local agriculture but also for global food security.

Enhanced Rock Weathering in Brazil’s potential to offset

Through extensive research and analysis tailored to Brazil’s unique conditions, InPlanet’s scientists determined that ERW has the potential to offset 100% of Brazil’s Nationally Determined Contributions. Whilst the world continues in an effort to reduce emissions, scaling Enhanced Rock Weathering globally can potentially contribute to removing an extra 0.5–4 Gt of CO₂, accounting for between ~20 and 100% of global Carbon Removal requirements by 2050.

Conclusion

In this context, Brazil emerges as a global leader in Enhanced Rock Weathering, making the country an attractive environment for the Carbon Removal Market. The synergy between the country’s natural climate, potential for scalability, and regulatory framework available offers an unprecedented opportunity to substantially reduce atmospheric CO₂ levels.

InPlanet continues to scale its operations around the tropics and has a team of dedicated people all around the world, from the US to China, Europe, the Caribean, and, of course, Brazil, joined in the mission of creating a livable planet for us and for future generations. We are bringing the world together to solve this global crisis. You can be part of this mission to harness the power of Enhanced Rock Weathering and contribute to a greener, healthier planet.

References

Beerling et al., 2020. Potential for large-scale CO2 removal via enhanced rock weathering with croplands. Nature, 583(7815): 242-248.10.1038/s41586-020-2448-9

Brantley, S. L., Shaughnessy, A., Lebedeva, M. I., and Balashov, V. N. (2023). How temperature-dependent silicate weathering acts as Earth’s geological thermostat. Science 379, 382–389. doi: 10.1126/science.add2922.

Dessert, C., Dupré, B., Gaillardet, J., François, L. M., & Allègre, C. J. (2003). Basalt weathering laws and the impact of basalt weathering on the global carbon cycle. Chemical Geology, 202(3–4), 257–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2002.10.001

Hersbach, H., Bell, B., Berrisford, P., Biavati, G., Horányi, A., Muñoz Sabater, J., Nicolas, J., Peubey, C., Radu, R., Rozum, I., Schepers, D., Simmons, A., Soci, C., Dee, D., Thépaut, J-N. (2023): ERA5 monthly averaged data on single levels from 1940 to present. Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Climate Data Store (CDS), DOI: 10.24381/cds.f17050d7 (Accessed on 09-05-2024)

Souza et al., 2020.  Reconstructing Three Decades of Land Use and Land Cover Changes in Brazilian Biomes with Landsat Archive and Earth Engine – Remote Sensing, Volume 12, Issue 17, 10.3390/rs12172735

Taylor, L., Quirk, J., Thorley, R. et al. Enhanced weathering strategies for stabilizing climate and averting ocean acidification. Nature Clim Change 6, 402–406 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2882