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Spreading Basalt

What is ERW?

Turning farmlands into carbon sinks

The Source
The Farms
The Sink
Step 1
Qualified basalt is quarried,
then finely crushed and graded,
and loaded onto trucks for transport to compatible partner farms.
Step 2
The basalt is spread across farmland,
where carbon dioxide in rainwater reacts with the rock dust
to form bicarbonate ions in the soil.
Step 3
These dissolved ions move into aquifers and rivers
and are eventually carried to the ocean,
where they store carbon in stable forms and,
over geological time, can become part of marine shells and coral reefs.

ERW leverages a natural process to deliver durable, cost-effective carbon removal and resilience.

Green and lush crop field

In tropical smallholder soils, basalt restores essential minerals, improves soil chemistry, and strengthens crop resilience—boosting productivity while permanently removing CO₂ from the atmosphere.

Why ERW?

Rocks

Natural

Rock weathering has removed CO₂ for billions of years. Mati
accelerates this process to tackle today’s excess carbon dioxide.

Field testing

Durable

ERW locks carbon in oceans and aquifers for
10,000+ years, ensuring long-term removal.

Scientist in lab

Backed by science

Mati’s MRV system, developed with global
scientists, sets the standard for measuring ERW.

Farmers harvesting

Impactful

Our model delivers this free of cost to smallholder farmers,
boosting agronomic productivity while removing carbon dioxide.

The need for ERW as a durable carbon removal solution

Mitigation alone is not enough. Even if emissions stopped today, atmospheric CO₂ would remain dangerously high for centuries. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that 5–10 gigatons of CO₂ must be removed annually by 2050 to meet climate targets. These removals must be durable, measurable, and scalable.

Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) delivers this by accelerating a proven natural carbon sink.

In nature, silicate rocks react with CO₂ and water to form bicarbonate (HCO₃⁻). These bicarbonate ions move through soils, rivers, and aquifers to the ocean, where carbon is stored for over 10,000 years. ERW speeds up this process by applying finely crushed basalt—a calcium–magnesium silicate—to soils, dramatically increasing reaction rates through greater surface area.