Enhanced rock weathering for sustainable carbon capture: advances, challenges, and future prospects in terrestrial ecosystems

Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) is a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategy that accelerates mineral dissolution in terrestrial systems to draw down atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), with the potential for co-benefits across managed and natural ecosystems. This review evaluates ERW’s real-world effectiveness through the lens of measurable carbon fluxes and storage permanence. We synthesize evidence across geochemical kinetics, hydrology, mineralogy, particle size distributions, and biological mediation, showing that the wide range of reported field-scale carbon removal rates (approximately 0 to 9 t CO 2 per ha −1 yr −1 ) reflects diverse site-specific environmental conditions and complex geochemical, biological, and hydrological processes that cannot be explained by intrinsic mineral reactivity alone. Widely used proxies, such as total cation dissolutions, soil pH changes, or crop yield gains, are less reliable indicators of field-scale CDR than alkalinity export or cation mass balance. Furthermore, estimates of net CDR should account for both the efficiency of converting weathering products into durable carbonate storage and full lifecycle emissions. Lifecycle assessments consistently identify energy for grinding and logistics as the dominant sources of cost and emissions, implying an optimal particle fineness for maximizing net removal. A tiered appraisal of modeling approaches highlights remaining uncertainty across geochemical, ecohydrological, and socioeconomic processes in current models, with plausible 2050 deployment potential estimated at 0.2–4 Gt CO 2 yr −1 . We further assess environmental and social risks, including trace-metal accumulation, long-term soil health, and occupational hazards. We conclude by outlining a framework for credible scaling that integrates rigorous monitoring, multi-scale modeling, and precautionary governance. Under these conditions, ERW emerges not as a universal solution, but as a potentially meaningful component of a diversified carbon removal portfolio.