In this episode, Professor David Beerling is joined by Professor Nick Pidgeon of Cardiff University to explore some of the novel insights from the social sciences work of the LC3M programme – and what it can tell us about possible ethical dilemmas and public responses to the idea of carbon removal and enhanced weathering.

They begin by explaining the ethical dilemma of mitigation deterrence – an idea that arose first in connection with insurance. The hypothesis is that, by providing a technology such as carbon removal for avoiding some aspects of climate risk this in turn might lead us or politicians to lose motivation to enact some of the difficult mitigation decisions which we know are essential in the fight against climate change. Although hard to prove directly it is a key ethical worry for many who study carbon removal.

Nick describes some of the results of the LC3M empirical studies using surveys and deliberative workshops to understand public responses. People often accept new technologies for the benefits they bring, but only subject to certain conditions. In the case of carbon removal technology, it’s clear from our research that one critical condition is that deployment must always go hand-in-hand with extensive and transparent conventional mitigation efforts. Otherwise, people will quickly become uncomfortable, even outraged, if they suspect mitigation deterrence and greenwashing.

They conclude the podcast with reflections on some of our findings regarding attitudes towards the mining and resource extraction aspect of enhanced weathering. Nick explains these will differ by region, local geography and experiences with mining, and the histories of past extraction in a region.

In this episode, Professor Nicholas Pidgeon joins Ms Molly James to explore the role of actors and institutions in the emerging sociotechnical system of ERW. From agriculture to the mineral industry, the participation of diverse sectors can raise important questions about conflicting interests and distributional outcomes.

Molly discusses her most recent paper which came from interviewing nearly forty actors across the lifecycle of ERW. She elaborates on the use of institutional theory to surface the interests, assumptions, values, and beliefs of actors and what this can tell us about the emergent institutional arrangements.

Together, they reflect on the characteristics of the current sociotechnical system and what this means for ERW.

In this episode, Professor Nick Pidgeon is joined by Dr Elspeth Spence to discuss how publics perceive enhanced weathering across the countries with field trial sites that are run by The Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation.

Nick sets the scene, establishing the importance of social sciences as part of the development and deployment of new technologies, including the need to consider ethical issues and worries about moral hazard. He then explains the range of methods used to measure public perceptions around enhanced weathering as part of the project including surveys, workshops, and stakeholder interviews.

Elspeth and Nick discuss the challenges in using various methodologies and the importance of local expertise to help inform the design of materials to be suitable in a range of countries. They discuss what factors influence perceptions from a psychological perspective and the concerns people hold about enhanced weathering, and how these are reflected in workshops.

Together, they reflect on the value of interdisciplinary collaboration for enhanced weathering particularly for working in the Global South before finally considering appropriate risk communications for enhanced weathering.

In this episode, Professor David Beerling is joined by Dr Maria Val Martin to explore how Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) when deployed with agriculture interacts with atmospheric chemistry and Earth system processes.

David & Maria discuss how ERW deployment can influence atmospheric composition, climate dynamics and crop productivity responses, and why understanding these feedbacks is essential for assessing its real-world climate impact.

Maria explains how Earth system modelling is used at The Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation (LC3M) to capture these complex interactions and evaluate both the benefits and potential unintended consequences of large-scale ERW.

Together, they reflect on the importance of integrating atmospheric chemistry into carbon dioxide removal research and the value of interdisciplinary collaboration in addressing global climate challenges.

In this episode, Professor David Beerling is joined by Dr Euripides Kantzas to explore how big data, simulation and optimisation modelling are used to understand how Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) could be deployed at scale with agriculture for carbon dioxide removal.

They discuss how combining data from field trials, crop systems, transport networks, geological resources and climate datasets enables researchers to simulate real-world deployment scenarios and assess where ERW could deliver the greatest climate benefits.

The conversation also explores the challenges of scaling carbon dioxide removal technologies, including practical, environmental and economic considerations, and how modelling helps inform these trade-offs.

Together, they reflect on how advances in computational modelling are helping to transform ERW from a promising scientific concept into a credible, scalable climate mitigation strategy.

In this episode, Professor David Beerling is joined by Dr Lyla Taylor to explore how modelling at The Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation has evolved over the past decade to support research into Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) and carbon dioxide removal.

They discuss how early modelling approaches provided foundational insights into ERW potential, and how these have developed into more sophisticated, integrated tools combining biogeochemistry, soil science, crop systems and Earth system processes.

The conversation highlights how iterative model development, combined with new data from experiments and field trials, has improved understanding of ERW impacts and increased the realism of predictions at larger scales.

Together, they reflect on how modelling has been central to LC3M’s progress, helping translate early conceptual ideas into robust, evidence-based science with real-world application.

In the first episode of our podcast series reflecting on a decade of Enhanced Rock Weathering research at The Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation, Professor David Beerling looks back at the early days of the Centre and the carbon dioxide removal (CDR) landscape ten years ago.

David discusses the vision behind establishing the Centre, the importance of integrating social science from the outset, and the challenges and opportunities of building an interdisciplinary research team to explore Enhanced Rock Weathering as a climate solution.

Joining David is Dr Mike Kelland, David's first PhD student working on Enhanced Weathering and, fittingly, the first guest in this podcast series. Together, they reflect on how the field has evolved over the past decade and the role the Centre has played in advancing research and understanding in carbon dioxide removal.