Sustainability, certification, and regulation of biochar

Abstract

-Biochar has a relatively long half-life in soil and can fundamentally alter soil properties, processes, and ecosystem services. The prospect of global-scale biochar application to soils highlights the importance of a sophisticated and rigorous certification procedure. The objective of this work was to discuss the concept of integrating biochar properties with environmental and socioeconomic factors, in a sustainable biochar certification procedure that optimizes complementarity and compatibility between these factors over relevant time periods. Biochar effects and behavior should also be modelled at temporal scales similar to its expected functional lifetime in soils. Finally, when existing soil data are insufficient, soil sampling and analysis procedures need to be described as part of a biochar certification procedure.Index terms: ecosystem services, environmental risk, functional lifetime, geoengineering, heterogeneity, public policy. Sustentabilidade, certificação e regulamentação do "biochar"Resumo -O "biochar" tem um tempo de meia-vida no solo relativamente longo e pode alterar substancialmente as propriedades, processos e funções do solo. A perspectiva da aplicação de "biochar" aos solos, em escala global, evidencia a importância de se lhe atribuir um processo de certificação sofisticado e rigoroso. O objetivo deste trabalho foi discutir o conceito da integração das propriedades do "biochar" com os fatores ambientais e socioeconômicos relevantes do local de aplicação selecionado, como parte de um procedimento de certificação sustentável que otimize a complementaridade e a compatibilidade entre esses fatores, em períodos de tempo relevantes. Os efeitos e o comportamento do "biochar" devem, também, ser modelados em escalas temporais similares às de seu tempo de vida funcional nos solos do local selecionado. Finalmente, onde os dados existentes sobre as características do solo forem insuficientes, procedimentos de amostragem e análise do solo devem ser descritos como parte do procedimento de certificação do "biochar".Termos para indexação: serviços ambientais, risco ambiental, tempo de vida funcional, geoengenharia, heterogeneidade, políticas públicas.

Biochar boosts tropical but not temperate crop yields

“…Forests are mostly located in the more naturally-constrained areas in the temperate zone, which is likely to explain the positive effect. However, the current study's overall no-effect of biochar on arable crop yield in the temperate zone is a step further, which highlights the need for more careful consideration of the interactions between biochar and soil properties [31] for soils that are yielding near their maximum crop productivity.…”

Biochar: The Black Diamond for Soil Sustainability, Contamination Control and Agricultural Production

“…This can be attained by heating carbon bearing solids in the absence of oxygen [52] to produce porous materials of low density [53] and more stable forms of carbon [54] which are more resistant to biodegradation as compared to fresh organic materials. Biochars' half-life in soil is relatively long [55].…”

Representativeness of European Biochar Research: Part I – Field Experiments

“…biochar characteristics), as well as the independent variables (i.e. soils, climates, land use and land management; Verheijen et al 2012Verheijen et al , 2015. The first step in developing the LOSU for biochar is to determine how representative the knowledge base is regarding production and environmental application.…”