Book ChapterDOI
A review of biochar and its use and function in soil
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TLDR
The potential to sequester carbon as thermally stabilized (charred) biomass using existing organic resource is estimated to be at least 1 Gt/yr − 1 and biochar, defined by its useful application to soil, is expected to provide a benefit from enduring physical and chemical properties.Abstract:
Agricultural activities and soils release greenhouse gases, and additional emissions occur in the conversion of land from other uses. Unlike natural lands, active management offers the possibility to increase terrestrial stores of carbon in various forms in soil. The potential to sequester carbon as thermally stabilized (charred) biomass using existing organic resource is estimated to be at least 1 Gt yr − 1 and “biochar,” defined by its useful application to soil, is expected to provide a benefit from enduring physical and chemical properties. Studies of charcoal tend to suggest stability in the order of 1000 years in the natural environment, and various analytical techniques inform quantification and an understanding of turnover processes. Other types of biochar, such as those produced under zero-oxygen conditions have been studied less, but costs associated with logistics and opportunity costs from diversion from energy or an active form in soil demand certainty and predictability of the agronomic return, especially until eligibility for carbon credits has been established. The mechanisms of biochar function in soil, which appear to be sensitive to the conditions prevailing during its formation or manufacture, are also affected by the material from which it is produced. Proposed mechanisms and some experimental evidence point to added environmental function in the mitigation of diffuse pollution and emissions of trace gases from soil; precluding the possibility of contaminants accumulating in soil from the incorporation of biochar is important to ensure safety and regulatory compliance.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Opportunities and Barriers to Bioenergy Conversion Techniques and Their Potential Implementation on Swine Manure
Mahmoud A. Sharara,Sammy Sadaka +1 more
Abstract: The objectives of this article are to offer a comprehensive evaluation of the opportunities and barriers for swine manure conversion technologies and to shed light on the gaps that might require further investigation to improve the applicability of these technologies. The challenges of manure management have been propagated alongside the global growth of swine production. Various technologies that target the production of energy, fuels, and bioproducts from swine manure have been reported. These technologies include pretreatments, i.e., drying, and solid separation; biological techniques, i.e., composting, anaerobic digestion, and biodrying; and thermochemical techniques, i.e., combustion, gasification, pyrolysis, liquefaction, and carbonization. The review highlights the yields and qualities of products, i.e., energy, gaseous fuel, liquid fuel, and solid fuel, of each technology. It exhibits that the choice of a conversion technology predominantly depends on the feedstock properties, the specifics of the conversion technique, the market values of the end products as well as the local regulations. The challenges associated with the presented techniques are discussed to ameliorate research and development in these areas. The notable finding of this paper is that there is a need for full-scale research in the area of thermochemical conversion of solid-separated swine manure.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Effects of Rice Straw and Biochar Applications on the Microbial Community in a Soil with a History of Continuous Tomato Planting History
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of rice straw and biochar on soil microbial abundance and diversity in soils with a history of continuous planting were examined, and three treatments were examined: mixed rice straw, biochar, and rice straw addition.
Dissertation
Effect of biochar on chemistry, nutrient uptake and fertilizer mobility in sandy soil
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss OPSOMMING and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, and present a table of figures and a list of tables for each of them.
Journal ArticleDOI
Woody biochar's greenhouse gas mitigation potential across fertilized and unfertilized agricultural soils and soil moisture regimes
Matt Ramlow,M. Francesca Cotrufo +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, slow-pyrolysis wood-derived biochar's impact on GHG efflux, mineral N dynamics and soil organic C in a series of two incubations across fertilized and unfertilized agricultural soils and soil moisture regimes was investigated.
References
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Book
HUmus Chemistry Genesis, Composition, Reactions
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an analysis of organic matter in soil using NMR Spectroscopy and analytical pyrolysis, showing that organic matter is composed of nitrogen and ammonium.
Journal ArticleDOI
Use of U.S. Croplands for Biofuels Increases Greenhouse Gases Through Emissions from Land-Use Change
Tim Searchinger,Ralph E. Heimlich,Richard A. Houghton,Fengxia Dong,Amani Elobeid,Jacinto F. Fabiosa,Simla Tokgoz,Dermot J. Hayes,Tun-Hsiang Yu +8 more
TL;DR: This article found that corn-based ethanol, instead of producing a 20% savings, nearly doubled greenhouse emissions over 30 years and increased greenhouse gases for 167 years, by using a worldwide agricultural model to estimate emissions from land-use change.
Journal ArticleDOI
Land Clearing and the Biofuel Carbon Debt
TL;DR: Converting rainforests, peatlands, savannas, or grasslands to produce food crop–based biofuels in Brazil, Southeast Asia, and the United States creates a “biofuel carbon debt” by releasing 17 to 420 times more CO2 than the annual greenhouse gas reductions that these biofuel reductions would provide by displacing fossil fuels.
Journal ArticleDOI
Global and regional climate changes due to black carbon
TL;DR: The second most important contribution to anthropogenic climate warming, after carbon dioxide emissions, was made by black carbon emissions as mentioned in this paper, which is an efficient absorbing agent of solar irradiation that is preferentially emitted in the tropics and can form atmospheric brown clouds in mixture with other aerosols.
Journal ArticleDOI
Stabilization Wedges: Solving the Climate Problem for the Next 50 Years with Current Technologies
TL;DR: A portfolio of technologies now exists to meet the world's energy needs over the next 50 years and limit atmospheric CO 2 to a trajectory that avoids a doubling of the preindustrial concentration as mentioned in this paper.