CIEIF grant for environmental impact assessment in Kenya field trial
The Climate Intervention Environmental Impact Fund (CIEIF; cieif.org) has awarded a $75,000 grant to Carbizon, a POC valorisation project aimed for the founding of a spin-off. Carbizon proposes a high-intensity enhanced rock weathering (ERW) two-year field test in Muranga’a County in central Kenya. The project, to be carried out on a test farm, will integrate crushed basalt with biochar and organic matter to create a functional soil building system while simultaneously quantifying durable inorganic carbon removal through accelerated silicate weathering. Unlike conventional ERW approaches that apply relatively small quantities of silicate rock to existing cropland, Carbizon’s approach applies the mineral feedstocks at much higher intensities, thus testing ERW not as a marginal soil amendment but as the primary soil building and carbon removal mechanism. CIEIF’s funding will support a detailed environmental impact assessment of this technique utilizing independent consultants, as well as supporting impact modeling and a Life Cycle Assessment by Carbizon’s team. It also will support stakeholder outreach, engaging closely with Kenyan farming organizations.
