Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 4
B
IOCHAR
Amir Hass
1,
and Javier M. Gonzalez
2
1
West Virginia State University,
Agricultural and Environmental Research Station,
Institute, West Virginia, USA
2
USDA, Agricultural Research Service,
National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory,
West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
A
BSTRACT
Biochar, a carbonaceous material produced by pyrolysis, can be used as soil
amendment to improve soil properties. As some of the carbon is converted into a
recalcitrant form rendering it more resistant to biodegradation, land application of biochar
is promoted as a beneficial mean for carbon sequestration and as an offsetting mechanism
for carbon emission. The agronomic efficacy of biochar and its effects on improving soil
properties is highly process- and feedstock-dependent. Feedstock nutrient recovery in
biochar tends to decrease with temperature while remaining nutrients redistribute into
more recalcitrant and less readily available forms for plant uptake. Pyrolysis of biomass
at higher temperature increases biochar liming capacity which contributes to increase in
pH of dystrophic, acidic, and highly weathered soils where biochar improvement of soil
fertility has shown to be most pronounced and consistence. Biochar showed to improve
several soil quality indicators including cation exchange capacity, bulk density, and
carbon content. When produced as the main product under slow pyrolysis conditions,
biochar can be engineered to achieve desired characteristics; conversely, when produced
as a byproduct in fast-pyrolysis, post-production augmentation procedures to improve
desired biochar characteristics need to be considered in order to maximize biochar impact
on soil fertility. Effect of pyrolysis conditions, feedstock source, and composition on
biochar characteristics and effect of biochar application on soil fertility are discussed.
Keywords
: pyrolysis, biochar, soil pH, carbon black, aromatic carbon, nutrients
Search WWH ::
Custom Search