Potential Benefits of Biochar in Agricultural Soils: A Review

Ding, Yang; Liu, Yunguo; Liu, Shaobo; Huang, Xiongjian; Li, Zhongwu; Tan, Xiaofei; Zeng, Guangming; Zhou, Lu

doi:10.1016/s1002-0160(17)60375-8

Cited by 147 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 116 publications

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“…Time after biochar application can also affect biochar performance. Biochar undergoes oxidation with time, and thus old biochar may retain more nitrate in the long term than fresh biochar (Major et al, 2012; Ding et al, 2017); however, studies specifically monitoring biochar effects on nitrate leaching with time after application are not available to make definitive conclusions.…”

Section: Biochar Amendment and Nutrient Leaching From Soilmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While sorption of nutrients is needed for the reduction in nutrient leaching, biochar materials that adsorb surplus nitrates yet maintain optimum levels of N available to plants should be developed. The large differences in biochar properties including pH, C and N concentration, cation exchange capacity, specific surface area, and other properties among biochar materials can determine the strength of sorption of nitrates and other chemicals (Ding et al, 2017; Cheng et al, 2018). In the soil, sorption of nitrates on biochar and release of nitrates from biochar occur at the same time.…”

Section: Biochar Amendment and Nutrient Leaching From Soilmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Losses of pesticides to groundwater and surface water are another concern. Several recent reviews concluded that biochar can be one of the most effective sorbents to reduce pesticide losses and ameliorate pesticide‐contaminated soils (Khorram et al, 2016; Ding et al, 2017; Wu et al, 2017). Biochar can have two or three orders of magnitude greater sorption capacity than soil (Wu et al, 2017).…”

Section: Pesticide Lossesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biochar and Water Quality

Blanco‐Canqui¹

2019

J of Env Quality

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Biochar application is considered to be an emerging strategy to improve soil ecosystem services. However, implications of such application on water quality parameters have not been widely discussed. This paper synthesizes the state‐of‐the‐art research on biochar effects on water erosion, nitrate leaching, and other sources of water pollution. Literature indicates that in general, biochar application reduces runoff by 5 to 50% and soil loss by 11 to 78%, suggesting that it can be effective at reducing water erosion, but the magnitude of erosion reduction is highly variable. Co‐application of biochar with other organic amendments (i.e., animal manure, compost) appears to be more effective at reducing water erosion than biochar alone. A main mechanism by which biochar can reduce water erosion is by improving soil properties (i.e., organic C, hydraulic conductivity, aggregate stability), which affect soil erodibility. This review also indicates that biochar reduces nitrate leaching, in most cases by 2 to 88%, but has mixed effect on phosphate and dissolved C leaching. Additionally, biochar effectively filters urban runoff, adsorbs pollutants, and reduces pesticides losses. Biochar feedstock, pyrolysis temperature, application amount, time after application, and co‐application with other amendments affect biochar impacts on water quality. Biochar erosion and potential reduction in nutrient and pesticide use efficiency due to the strong adsorption are concerns that deserve consideration. Overall, biochar application has the potential to reduce water erosion, nitrate leaching, pesticide losses, and other pollutant losses, but more field‐scale data are needed to better discern the extent to which biochar can improve water quality. Core Ideas Biochar can reduce water erosion, but the magnitude of reduction is variable. Biochar combined with other organic amendments can reduce water erosion more than biochar alone. Biochar can reduce nitrate leaching but has mixed effects on phosphate and dissolved C leaching. Biochar filters urban runoff, adsorbs organic pollutants, and reduces pesticide losses. More field data on the effectiveness of biochar for improving water quality are needed.

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Section: Biochar Amendment and Nutrient Leaching From Soilmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Biochar Amendment and Nutrient Leaching From Soilmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pesticide Lossesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biochar and Water Quality

Blanco‐Canqui¹

2019

J of Env Quality

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“…It is known that biochar improves soil quality by keeping an efficient level 2 Advances in Tribology of minerals, useful ions, nutrients, and water for enabling rich plant growth [13][14][15]. It reduces soil degradation [13] which is a major global problem.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Processing and Wear Behaviour of 3D Printed PLA Reinforced with Biogenic Carbon

Ertane

Dorner-Reisel

Baran

et al. 2018

Advances in Tribology

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For the first time, biocarbon reinforced polylactide (PLA) filaments were available for the 3D printing. Biocarbon is the carbon obtained from trees, plants, and soils to naturally absorb and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. One of the most important features is renewability. Because of this, it has been decided to reinforce PLA with biocarbon to obtain 100% recyclable material. Although PLA has been used in 3D printing for a long time, more applications like housings or structural interior of automobiles or other vehicles can be realised, if the mechanical and tribological properties are improved. Because the new PLA/biocarbon reinforced composites are degradable, they can be used as soil improvement after end of life as a structural material. The filaments were produced by compounding the biocarbon with polylactide granulate. Biocarbon was produced by pyrolysis of wheat stems at 800 ∘ C. The biomass were collected from different regions in Germany, Europe. As shown by Raman spectroscopy, the in-plane crystallite size of pyrolysed wheat stems from different regions is almost similar and amounts to 2.35 ±0.02 nm. Biocarbon particles were successfully integrated into the polylactide. Filaments of 1.75 mm diameter were produced for 3D (3-dimensional) printing. Filaments with 5 vol.-%, 15 vol.-%, and 30 vol.-% biocarbon were extruded. The fused deposition modelling (FDM) printing process was slightly hindered at higher biocarbon loading. Based on optical and scanning electron microscopy, a very homogeneous particle distribution can be observed. Single carbon particles stick out of the filament surface, which may be a reason for enhanced nozzle wear during 3D printing. Friction is more stable for 30 vol.-% reinforced PLA in comparison to unreinforced PLA and composites with lower particle fraction. This effect could be caused by some topographical effects due to void generation at the surface of PLA with 30 vol.-% biocarbon. In general, the tribological resistance increases with higher volume fraction of biocarbon.

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“…When made from a plant biomass source, biochar is highly porous (Brewer et al, 2014) and absorbent (Yao, Gao, Zhang, Inyang, & Zimmerman, 2012). Adding biochar to soil can enhance agricultural soil performance by improving soil hydrological properties (Kinney et al, 2012;Liu et al, 2016;Omondi et al, 2016) and soil nutrients thereby increasing crop yield (Ding et al, 2017;Jeffery, Verheijen, van der Velde, & Bastos, 2011). Although biochar's performance varies by biochar properties and application condition (e.g., soil and crop type; Joseph & Lehmann, 2009;Sorrenti, Masiello, & Toselli, 2016), meta-data analyses (Jeffery, Verheijen, Kammann, & Abalos, 2016;Nguyen et al, 2017;Omondi et al, 2016) have shown that using biochar can, on average, improve crop performance and enhance ecosystem services through long-term increases in soil carbon inventory (Spokas, 2010) and soil aggregate stability (Ajayi & Horn, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Policy support for biochar: Review and recommendations

et al. 2018

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Significant evidence has accumulated demonstrating that soil biochar amendment has many environmental benefits; however, adoption has been slow. This raises the question of how to align the environmental benefits with commercial motivations to drive more widespread implementation. Here, we examine the role that government policy can play in accelerating production and use at commercial scale. We identify three types of programs that can support biochar production: commercial financial incentives, nonfinancial policy support, and research and development funding. We also describe how these programs are currently used to support biochar production. For example, financial incentives can motivate immediate changes in business practices while nonfinancial policies can be important mechanisms to educate consumers and expand market demand. Research and development support can provide the necessary funding for early‐stage innovations that may one day become commercially viable options, even without other types of policy support. There are different risk–reward profiles for each policy mechanism, and these must be considered when evaluating a policy direction. Finally, we offer broad recommendations to the development of policy that maximizes the net benefits of biochar adoption. Key recommendations include improving policies that allow for the monetization of environmental benefits and avoided costs, recognizing soil as a resource through national preservation policy, and developing a broadly accepted set of product standards for biochar.

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Potential Benefits of Biochar in Agricultural Soils: A Review

Cited by 147 publications

References 116 publications

Biochar and Water Quality

Biochar and Water Quality

Processing and Wear Behaviour of 3D Printed PLA Reinforced with Biogenic Carbon

Policy support for biochar: Review and recommendations

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