Dirk Paessler

Our mission is to speed up negative emissions, CEO @carbon_drawdown, VP @nep_brussels

[Dirk Paessler @dpaessler]

It’s Not Just the Rock—It’s the Soil (And it holds on tight) -- Our latest greenhouse study with data from our greenhouse experiments is now available on EGUSphere as a pre-print.

After five years of EW field&lab work and a two‑year greenhouse experiment (focussed on a subset of 4 soil types, 13 rock and industrial feedstocks), our new preprint on enhanced weathering has gone online on EGUsphere. In the blog post linked below, we walk through what we actually saw when we tracked alkalinity in leachate and cation retention in soils.

A few takeaways for EW and CDR projects:

* Soil type is as important as rock type. pH, clay content, carbonates and CEC can completely change whether added rock dust shows up as measurable alkalinity export or mostly stays in the soil.

* Alkalinity export alone underestimates and can even misrepresent CDR. In our experiment, 10–50× more cations stayed in soil pools than left in leachate over 1–2 years.

* A large part of “theoretical” CDR is delayed or locked in soil processes that current models and MRV approaches may not yet capture well.

If you work on EW deployment, MRV or modelling, the details matter here. We summarise the key results, implications, and what we are doing next (including new experiments and sample collaborations) in the blog (see 1st comment)

[Dirk Paessler @dpaessler]

It's 𝗢𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗣𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 where I invite you to a 15 second ocean meditation with one of my photos or videos.

Let's protect the beauty and abundance of our oceans!

[Dirk Paessler @dpaessler]

Some of what's in it is reassuring. Some of it raises questions that are going to take more work to answer.

That's the conversation we're trying to have on 16 June. Free to attend, virtual. Register here:
https://t.co/f6YbYhHvvB

[Dirk Paessler @dpaessler]

Building a dataset that actually moves a field forward takes time. It means running experiments across different conditions, not just the ones that give you the results you're hoping for.

[Dirk Paessler @dpaessler]

The reason we are presenting it publicly, live, is that we think the field benefits more from open discussion of a complex dataset than from a polished summary of selected highlights.

[Dirk Paessler @dpaessler]

This is part of a series on system change over personal purity. Anchor essay: "Chasing Net Zero Is Futile (For Now)" here:
https://t.co/ICe03r0cif

[Dirk Paessler @dpaessler]

Chasing Net Zero Is Futile (For Now) – Part Seven: What My Long COVID Taught Me About Climate Pragmatism

I have Long COVID. It limits what my body can handle. A 12-hour train ride to a conference isn't "choosing the planet" for people like me. It's physically impossible.

[Dirk Paessler @dpaessler]

Reduce what you can. Remove what you can't, and pursue systemic changes. And stop assuming everyone's "can" looks the same.

[Dirk Paessler @dpaessler]

The diagram reflects what we actually invest (and believe) in, not what models project.

Read the full breakdown here:
https://t.co/gzSUKBEheC

[Dirk Paessler @dpaessler]

Building this diagram gave me an unexpected view of our CDR portfolio I'd never had before.

Three large pathways are missing from our portfolio: BECCS, large-scale afforestation, and blue carbon.

[Dirk Paessler @dpaessler]

Whether the actual land, water, and biomass logistics support that scale is a much harder question. I'm not yet convinced the answer is yes.