Enhanced Weathering is one of the oldest scalable natural climate solutions. Minerals like olivine and rocks like basalt have been removing carbon from the atmosphere even before life on earth began. On May 4th, a group of scientists and entrepreneurs organised the 4th global enhanced weathering conference. Live from Amsterdam ánd online.

Program May 4 2022, 9.00 am – 7 pm CEST

The weathering of rocks is chemistry – a natural proces – which you could compare to… swapping partners… scientist Maria-Elena Vorrath’s explained in her Science Slam at the conference => 

Welcome on behalf of the future with general rocking intro

09.00 – 09.05 Sven Jense (founder Climate Cleanup) – Welcome on behalf of the future / cliffhanger on Climate Cleanup’s results on olivine in the marine lab of Deltares

09.05 – 09.15 Maria-Elena Vorrath (Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany) – Science Slam – This is one of the many solutions!

09.15 – 09.25 Pol Knops (independent researcher) – How can olivine help us with climate change mitigation?

09.25 – 09.35 Francesc Montserrat (Project Vesta) – Olivine beaches: (Natural) examples and public acceptance

09.35 – 09.45 Rob Steenkamp (University of Hamburg) – The legal framework for using olivine in the marine environment for the purposes of CO 2 removal 

09.45 – 10.00 Q&A

10.00 – 10.30 Break

The effects of enhanced weathering on marine ecosystems

10.30 – 10.40 Michael Fuhr (Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany; Project RETAKE) – Kinetics of olivine weathering in seawater: an Experimental Study

10.40 – 10.50 Jiaying Guo (University of Tasmania, Australia, Lennart Bach group, PhD) – Investigating the effect of nickel concentration on phytoplankton growth to inform the assessment of ocean alkalinity enhancement

10.50 – 11.00 Jakob Rønning (University of Southern Denmark, Caroline Loescher group, PhD) – Do olivine and other minerals disturb phytoplankton growth?

11.00 – 11.10 Francesc Montserrat (Project Vesta) – Enhanced olivine weathering in the  marine environment

  11.10 – 11.20 Nicolás Sanchez (Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany, Project OceanNETs GEOMAR) – Zooplankton community structure and production under enhanced alkalinity: a mesocosm study in the subtropical North Atlantic

11.20 – 11.30 Matthias Kreuzburg (University of Antwerp, Belgium, Filip Meysman Group) – Enhanced weathering of olivine in coastal environments

11.30 – 11.40 Yubin Hu (Institute of Marine Science and Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao) – Response of microbial community to olivine addition in coastal waters

11.40 – 11.50 Gunter Flipkens (University of Antwerp) – Deriving nickel (Ni(II)) and chromium (Cr(III)) based environmentally safe olivine guidelines for coastal enhanced silicate weathering 

11.50 – 12.00 Project Carbdown, Project Vesta and Climate Cleanup revealing world’s first closed system tests in the lab at Deltares in The Netherlands.

11.50 – 12.10 Q&A

12.15 – 14.00 Break & Lunch Poortgebouw Tolhuistuin (prepared by Eva & Emma)

Including  the opening first Amsterdam olivine path at Tolhuistuin Amsterdam

The effects of enhanced weathering on terrestrial ecosystems

14.00 – 14.10 Ingrid Smet (Fieldcode) – Terrestrial Enhanced Weathering: potential of different Ca-Mg silicate rocks; first field trials in Greece

14.10 – 14.20 Elisabete Trindade Pedrosa (Project Carbdown) – Effect of rock dust application on the main environmental parameters studied at the Bramstedt Carbdown pilot field

14.20 – 14.30 Thomas Rinder (University of Salzburg, Austria) – Limits and potential of carbon dioxide removal through enhanced weathering of basalt on agricultural land – Insights from a regional assessment 

14.30 – 14.40 Thomas Corbett (Uppsala Universitet, Sweden) – Bio-accelerated mineral weathering: Towards negative emissions technologies

14.40 – 14.50 Mel Murphy (The Future Forest Company) – Field trials of enhanced weathering with basalt

14.50 – 15.00 Arthur Vienne (University of Antwerp) – Enhanced weathering using basalt rock powder: Carbon sequestration, co-benefits and risks in a mesocosm study with
Solanum tuberosum

15.00 – 15.10 Rafael Santos – Are farmers willing to adopt enhanced rock weathering (before carbon credits are a reality); successes, risks and uncertainties in Ontario (Canada)

15.10 – 15.20 Eric Matzner – On a new enhanced weathering consortium and cliffhanger on tribute to Olaf Schuiling in the evening

15.20 – 15.30 Ruben Gerrits – winner of the the first Olaf Schuiling Award 2021 – Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing – BAM – Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung – The role of extracellular polymeric substances of fungal biofilms in olivine attachment and weathering 

15.30 -15.40 Rasesh Pokharel (Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University) – Transforming harbour sediment from waste into resource using olivine

15.40 – 15.50 Q&A

15.50 – 16.00 Break

Companies and policy

16.00 – 16.10 Dirk Paessler (Carbon Drawdown Initiative) – Scaling up CDR with EW: The challenges and opportunities from the perspective of an entrepreneur

16.10 – 16.20 Andrew Simeonidis (Sibelco) – Mining process of olivine rich rocks

16.20 – 16.30 Kai Geertsma (greenSand) – Selling olivine for climate positivity 

16.30 – 16.40 Anna Dubowik (NEP) – Negative Emissions Platform – the first EU association for technological removals & introduction of Stripe’s Frontier’s fund

16.40 – 16.50 Eve Tamme (Climate Principles) – Brussel’s policies on climate change 

16.50 – 17.10 Q&A

17.10 – 18.00 Break

Double Nature Talk

 18.00 – 18.45 Climate Cleanup’s monthly Double Nature Talk

Wrap-up of the day. Creating the action agenda for the future. Rewarding (for the second time) the Olaf Schuiling Award for most interesting scientific research or contribution to the field of enhanced weathering as a natural climate solution. Eric Matzner will be presenting another Olaf Schuiling surprise.

Presenter: Puck van Dijk

Assisted by Eva Nummerdor and Emma Vrieswijk (Fair Future Generators)