Biochar is the lightweight black residue, made of carbon and
ashes, remaining after the pyrolysis of biomass, and is a form of charcoal. Biochar is defined by the International Biochar Initiative as "the solid material obtained from the thermochemical conversion of biomass in an oxygen-limited environment". Biochar is a stable solid that is rich in pyrogenic carbon and can endure in soil for thousands of years.
The refractory stability of biochar leads to the concept of pyrogenic carbon capture and storage (PyCCS), i.e. carbon sequestration in the form of biochar. It may be a means to mitigate climate change due to its potential of sequestering carbon with minimal effort. Biochar may increase the soil fertility of acidic soils and increase agricultural productivity. Biochar is mainly used for soil application and is known to improve soil nutrient availability, aeration in soil, and soil water filtration. There exist various approaches for utilizing biochar, including but not limited to soil amendment, slash-and-char, water retention, stock fodder, and concrete additive.
Biochar has been widely viewed as an environmentally positive material for soil. However, it is crucial to take into account the potential adverse effects of biochar, such as disturbing soil pH levels, or introducing harmful chemical characteristics that cause problems at the micro dimension. Therefore, caution should be exercised when considering the applications of biochar as research continues to explore the positive and negative effects of biochar.
The word "biochar" is a late 20th century English neologism derived from the Greek word βίος, bios, "life" and "char" (charcoal produced by carbonisation of biomass). It is recognized as charcoal that participates in biological processes found in soil, aquatic habitats and in animal digestive systems.
Pre-Columbian Amazonians produced biochar by smoldering agricultural waste (i.e., covering burning biomass with soil) in pits or trenches. It is not known if they intentionally used biochar to enhance soil productivity.
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Terra preta (ˈtɛʁɐ ˈpɾetɐ, literally "black soil" in Portuguese) is a type of very dark, fertile anthropogenic soil (anthrosol) found in the Amazon Basin. It is also known as "Amazonian dark earth" or "Indian black earth". In Portuguese its full name is terra preta do índio or terra preta de índio ("black soil of the Indian", "Indians' black earth"). Terra mulata ("mulatto earth") is lighter or brownish in color.
Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, called charcoal burning, often by forming a charcoal kiln, the heat is supplied by burning part of the starting material itself, with a limited supply of oxygen. The material can also be heated in a closed retort. Modern "charcoal" briquettes used for outdoor cooking may contain many other additives, e.
Energy crops are low-cost and low-maintenance crops grown solely for renewable bioenergy production (not for food). The crops are processed into solid, liquid or gaseous fuels, such as pellets, bioethanol or biogas. The fuels are burned to generate electrical power or heat. The plants are generally categorized as woody or herbaceous. Woody plants include willow and poplar, herbaceous plants include Miscanthus x giganteus and Pennisetum purpureum (both known as elephant grass).
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In an attempt to go beyond the conventional laboratory experiments widely reported in literature around the emerging technique of soil bio-cementation, this work addresses key challenges related to its large-scale application. Precisely, a state-of-the-art ...
The study of pollutants found in biochar and its effects on agricultural soil was conducted in this paper. The aim of the research was to analyse organic and inorganic pollutants found in biochar which either originate from the biomass itself or are formed ...
2023
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Biogeotechnical research has inspired revolutionary ideas to claim the status of a distinctive branch of geotechnical engineering. Most notably, underground carbonate mineralization, most commonly referred to as microbially induced carbonate precipitation ...