Projects within the olivine option that require no carbon credits for their realization

In recent discussions with colleagues, several times the opinion was voiced that projects in which the weathering of olivine or its hydrated equivalent serpentine were used could never become a business case without associated carbon credits. This is incorrect, and we present examples where the use of olivine weathering is already practiced, and funded directly by the users. we will also show some cases where it is obvious that their realization does not require the use of carbon credits to become profitable.

List of projects already operational, without any contribution from carbon credits:

1. Potting soil enriched with olivine. The first 100.000 bags are on sale in garden centers in the Netherlands.
2. Olivine integrated in roofs. Tens of thousands of m2 of roof have already been covered by olivine in the Netherlands, and a number of companies (including now the first in Germany and Belgium) are actively engaged in this business.
3. Sand filters in urban waste treatment plants are replaced by olivine sandfilters, and the first full scale system is running.
4. A large golf course in the Netherlands is going to use a mixture of 80% sand/20% olivine sand. Members are pleased, because this way they know that they will contribute to the removal of CO₂ from the atmosphere.
5. ProRail, the company responsible for the care and maintenance of the Dutch Railways is carrying out a pilot study to cover the inspection paths along the railroad with olivine.
6. Some projects seem bizarre, but are still a workable business case. This holds certainly for a German textile company that produces synthetic fibres for clothing. They have incorporated tiny grains of serpentine in these fibres, and have started to make textile with it. Our tests have shown that during the washing of these clothes, it adds alkalinity to the water, which in turn will react with CO₂, capturing it as bicarbonate in solution.