And then, after one final reminder that the city will officially be worshipping fossil fuel next week, I got back home, with a loaf of bread for my lunch picked up in the city centre and a 20 kg sack of olivine ("greensand") which will eventually absorb about 20 kg of CO2 when I use it in the garden. I don't use any fossil fuels, but others unfortunately still do.
#velomobile #regel17 #cycling #biketooter #weathering #enhancedweathering #olivine #greensand

This morning's exercise ride was a 34 km round trip to collect another 20 kg sack of greensand. We've been using it with our potplants, mixed with compost from the garden to start tomatoes, and here in the front garden it's levelled up the ground above our potatoes.
Over time, each sack removes 20 kg of CO2 from the atmosphere and the process is beneficial to growing plants. Three sacks make a very small difference to our historical emissions, but if I'm going to buy soil of some kind for the garden it may as well be this. I certainly won't buy #peat which would help to destroy an ecosystem somewhere and release CO2 into the atmosphere.
#olivine #greensand #weathering #enhancedweathering #regel17 #

@davidho Interesting. Thanks. I went straight to Chapter 10. Table 10-7 looks to predict today's PCO2 pretty well, as did other sources around the same time. It's insane that we've just walked into this entirely predictable situation with all the equally predictable outcomes, without really doing anything to prevent it.

It's also interesting to see the discussion of #weathering. I've been sprinkling olivine around my garden for the last year, fully aware that that tiny amount won't do much good...

Ars Technica: Earth’s long-term climate controlled by just 12% of the landscape https://arstechnica.com/?p=1917064 #Tech #arstechnica #IT #Technology #climatechange #Earthscience #weathering #chemistry #Science #erosion #geology

Photos of this morning's recreational ride. It took an hour and ten minutes to ride 37 km, my average speed being pulled down by riding slowly into a farmyard at around the half way point to buy another 20 kg sack of olivine.
We've been using this sand-like ground up olivine in pot plants indoors and also in the garden to fill gaps.
Plants seem to grow well in it.
Olivine is one of several minerals which absorb CO2 from the air as they weather so my feeling is that if I'm going to spend money on something to put in the garden or use for planting indoors, why not use olivine which has a small positive effect on the climate?
#regel17 #velomobile #greensand #olivine #weathering #enhancedweathering

@FransVeldman @henkdeligt @haayman Meestal waar, maar er zijn manieren om CO2 op te nemen die permanent zijn zonder kost van teveel energie. Bijvoorbeeld weathering van minerals.
Olivijn is een van de meest voorkomende minerals op aarde en vormt een groot deel van de aardkorst. Normaalijk reageert het langzaam met water en CO2 uit de lucht, waarbij het koolstof opslaat op een manier die veel energie kost om het vrij te maken. Als we het mineraal mijnen en vermalen, gaat dit proces veel sneller.
Het lijkt mogelijk om olivijn te mijnen en te vermalen op een manier waarbij minder CO2 vrijkomt dan het mineraal kan opnemen.
In Nederland is Olivine verkocht onder de naam greensand. Ik heb er een beetje van in mijn tuin.
Dit is natuurlijk geen oplossing voor eindeloze gebruik van fossiele brandstoffen - daar moeten een einde aan komen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_weathering
#weathering #greensand #olivine #EnhancedWeathering

Some field photos from this past week. Studying #rivers draining the Zambales ophiolite in the Philippines, known to have very high #weathering and alkalinity fluxes. Part of our work to understand the fate of anthropogenic #carbon emissions and response of catchments to changes in the hydrologic cycle.

I’ve learned a new word today, courtesy of @jrcarpenter — “ventifact”— #geology #wind #weathering #nature https://zirk.us/@jrcarpenter/109410887098586182

@andrewdessler
Wonderful. Had me test my understanding of #Holocene beginnings:
Mr. #Milankovitch awarded more sunlight to the Northern Hemisphere. That melted snow and runoff and #weathering process from glacier retreats first drew down CO2.
Then more🌞 on NH: Permafrost melted and CH4 grew fast.
But precipitation changes (also in tropics) let wetlands fall dry which then emit lotsa CO2. (Today, dry wetlands emit 2Gt/a!)
And: landmass uplift lets volcanos in Italy or Iceland erupt = ++CO2.

Early Christmas break planning: force myself to sit down and make more of these #modelships out of shampoo bottles.

#scalemodel #weathering #vallejo #nerd #foundmaterials

Early Christmas break planning: force myself to sit down and make more of these #modelships out of shampoo bottles.

#scalemodel #weathering #vallejo #nerd #foundmaterials

Anyway, I think #weathering of minerals is one of the few types of CO2 sequestration which might actually achieve something because the chemical reaction which locks up the CO2 is not easily reversible, and it appears that olivine can be mined and also transported with a much lower CO2 output than the product will absorb.

In the Netherlands, a company called #Greensand is selling olivine, including as a compensation product where they'll mine it and dispose of it for you without you having to have it delivered to your home:

https://greensand.com/

In my case I bought this small amount from a local company called #Onlyvine which stocks the product:

https://www.onlyvine.nl/

If you're going to use sand or grit for some purpose, it may as well be olivine which might also have a positive effect on our climate.

This is not a paid for endorsement, btw, I just think it's interesting and probably positive. Also of course this cannot substitute for reducing consumption of fossil fuels as that's the most powerful way to reduce emissions.