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Lookup NU author(s): Rosmarie Neumann, Dr Tom ReershemiusORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Enhanced weathering in agriculture is a potential gigatonne-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR) pathway, but its potential remains difficult to constrain. We used a formal expert elicitation process to estimate CDR potential and efficiency, uncertainties, and key data needs for six feedstocks. Expert opinion of global potential varied by feedstock, with estimates averaging 0.2-0.7 Gt CO2e/yr, but with a wide range (from a source to greater than 5 Gt CO2e/yr removal). When focusing on the American Midwest (pH 5.5-6), carbon dioxide removal efficiency, meaning the fraction of potential ultimately realized, ranged from 27-39%. Key uncertainties included feedstock availability, calcite saturation, and deep soil/freshwater emission pathways. There is a need for empirical data in key stages, with potential to leverage liming data where appropriate. Overall, there appears to be strong potential CDR at broad scales. However, continued research is necessary to build confidence when quantifying that potential and actual removals.
Author(s): Buma B, Dietzen C, Gordon DR, Maher K, Neumann RB, Planavsky NJ, Reershemius T, Suhrhoff TJ, Vicca S, Waring BG, Almaraz M, Calabrese S, Derry LA, Morgan MG, Higgins J, Houlton BZ, Kanzaki Y, Klemme A, Kukla T, Oldfield EE, Power IM, Pearce CR, Silver WL, Zhang S
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Communications Earth & Environment
Year: 2026
Pages: Epub ahead of print
Online publication date: 12/03/2026
Acceptance date: 26/02/2026
Date deposited: 20/03/2026
ISSN (electronic): 2662-4435
Publisher: Springer Nature
URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03375-5
DOI: 10.1038/s43247-026-03375-5
Data Access Statement: Full dataset of individual elicitation responses (anonymized) is available on Zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18615550).
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