Eion, a carbon removal company scaling enhanced rock weathering (ERW) on agricultural lands, today announced its industry-first patent to directly measure carbon removal through ERW. Eion is working with farmers and existing agricultural systems to rapidly scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR) to meet Net Zero goals while improving soil health and creating jobs in rural communities.
Led by a team of scientists and recognized soil and geochemistry experts, Eion’s patented approach directly measures carbon dioxide removed by mineral weathering in soils using immobile trace elements–soil fingerprinting– to show applied minerals removed CO2 from the atmosphere and were transported away to be permanently sequestered. Eion’s measurement approach can be deployed widely for ERW with any silicate rock.
“Our measurement methodology unlocks enhanced rock weathering for the benefit of the global climate and local communities,” said Adam Wolf, Co-Founder and CEO of Eion. “ERW has long been an elegant way to clean up the atmosphere. The catch was you couldn’t measure it. We discovered how to use the soil samples agronomists already take to measure carbon removal precisely. This MRV milestone is the first step to scaling a proven climate solution, which Eion plans to do by tapping into the existing agricultural system and putting people to work along the way.”
Eion uses olivine in its operations—a mineral that has been approved for decades as a safe, effective micronutrient fertilizer—and works with local crop advisors to ensure that every acre is managed consistently with the grower’s agronomic and management goals. To measure carbon removal, Eion takes soil samples just before the rock is applied on the field and keeps on monitoring changes in the soil over time after the rock has been applied to quantify weathering and the CO2 removed in the process.
Six to nine months after applying olivine, Eion can show that 40% to 70% of the mineral has dissolved, capturing atmospheric CO2 that is ultimately stored in the ocean for thousands of years. As the mineral continues to dissolve, CO2 will continue to be captured until the reaction is complete.
“We must establish trust in the ERW market, which is why Eion focuses on rigorous measurement standards,” said Elliot Chang, Co-Founder and CTO of Eion. “Our newly patented methodology enables a simple and direct account of carbon removal by creating abundant digital artifacts that can be audited and verified by independent bodies.”
Eion is now working to assimilate its data streams and automate independent verification and certification with validation and verification bodies. Working alongside leading academics and experts from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and the Leverhulme Center for Climate Mitigation, Eion is stress-testing its measurement methodology and expects to publish a final paper in 2023.
Dr. Evan DeLucia, UIUC Professor and Director of the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment, has directly seen the patented approach in action, stating, “Eion’s new MRV technology unlocks the remaining challenge of quantifying the effectiveness of enhanced weathering under real-world conditions and will accelerate the adoption of enhanced weathering in agriculture.”
