Greenhouse gas emissions from soil amended with agricultural residue biochars: Effects of feedstock type, production temperature and soil moisture

Rittl, Tatiana F.; Butterbach‐Bahl, Klaus; Basile, Camila M.; Pereira, L. A. G.; Alms, Victoria; Dannenmann, Michael; Couto, Eduardo Guimarães; Cerri, Carlos Eduardo Pellegrino

doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2018.07.004

Cited by 51 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Table 1 presents the characteristics of the biochar that was used in this experiment. For more information on the physical and chemical characteristics of this particular biochar, as well as production parameters, see Rittl et al [27].…”

Section: Soil and Biochar Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biochar Amendment Enhances Water Retention in a Tropical Sandy Soil

et al. 2020

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The use of biochar, which is the solid product of biomass pyrolysis, in agricultural soils, has been shown as a strategic solution for building soil carbon stocks and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. However, biochar amendment might also benefit other key soil processes and services, such as those that are related to water retention, particularly in sandy soils. Here, we conducted an experiment to investigate the potential of biochar to enhance pore size distribution and water retention properties in a tropical sandy soil. Three biochar rates were incorporated (equivalent to 6.25, 12.5, and 25 Mg ha−1) into plastic pots containing a sandy Oxisol sampled from a sugarcane field in Brazil. Undisturbed samples of the mixture were collected at two evaluation times (50 and 150 days) and used to determine water retention curves and other soil physical properties. The results showed that biochar amendment decreased soil bulk density and increased water retention capacity, micropore volume, and available water content. Higher soil water retention in amended soil is associated with the inherent characteristics of biochar (e.g., internal porosity) and potential improvements in soil structure. Microporosity and water retention were enhanced with intermediate biochar rate (12.5 Mg ha−1), instead of the highest rate (25 Mg ha−1) tested. Further studies are needed to validate these results under field conditions.

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Section: Soil and Biochar Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biochar Amendment Enhances Water Retention in a Tropical Sandy Soil

et al. 2020

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“…Char can be produced from lignocellulosic biomass waste generated from different sources including agricultural waste, garden waste, and forest waste . Date palm is one of the examples in this scenario which generates millions of tonnes of waste annually.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This will bring the pressure significantly on the growth of third-generation feedstock that can further be converted into useful products. 21 Char can be produced from lignocellulosic biomass waste generated from different sources including agricultural waste, 22 garden waste, 23 and forest waste. 24 Date palm is one of the examples in this scenario which generates millions of tonnes of waste annually.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon conversion and stabilisation of date palm and high rate algal pond (microalgae) biomass through slow pyrolysis

et al. 2019

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Summary The processing of waste through pyrolysis technology is gaining momentum worldwide and is considered to be a green technology to reduce CO2 emissions. This study is devoted to analysing the lignocellulosic biomass (date palm) and wastewater‐derived microalgae and the carbon‐rich char produced between temperature range (400°C‐600°C) from these biomass types. The properties of microalgae char showed that significant variation with date palm char exhibited high heating values (24‐28 MJ/kg), low ash content (11%‐16%), and high energy yield (48%‐42%). Algal biomass char showed considerably high nitrogen content (6%‐7%) as compared with date palm char (<1%), lower stability, and more significant influence on the price with respect to treatment temperature. Quaternary, pyrrolic, and pyridinic nitrogen species were found on the surface of the microalgae char, whereas no nitrogen species detected on date palm char due to low nitrogen content. The activation energy was also noted to be high for algal char during pyrolysis and combustion process. It can be concluded that date palm char is suitable for energy applications, whereas, algal char can be used for soil amendment, wastewater treatment, and applications requiring nitrogen‐doped char.

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“…Our results support the idea that biochar cannot be considered as a universal tool for the reduction of N 2 O emissions.Agronomy 2020, 10, 109 2 of 17Biochar, a carbon-rich material produced from organic matter by heating under low oxygen conditions (pyrolysis) [17,18], has been proposed as an amendment that can improve soil conditions and increase crop yield, especially for soils with small cation exchange capacity and low organic carbon content and pH [19,20], but also reduce N losses through NO 3 − leaching and N 2 O emissions into the atmosphere [21].Recent meta-analyses have reported average reductions of N 2 O emissions for lab and field experiments between 32% and 54% [21-23] after biochar application. However, there are also studies indicating no effect from biochar application on N 2 O emissions [24][25][26][27] as well as increased emissions [28][29][30], and studies showing opposite outcomes by applying the same biochar to different soils [31][32][33].The mechanisms by which biochar amendment reduces N 2 O emissions are not completely understood [30], and different hypothesis have been proposed: NO 3 − immobilization by biochar [21], reduction of organic matter degradation and soil C mineralization, a reduction that increases as biochar production temperature increases [34], and alteration of the microbial denitrifying communities [35], including the increase in abundance of N 2 O reductase bacteria, resulting in a reduced the N 2 O:N 2 ratio [36], likely due to the increase of soil pH after biochar application [37,38]. Biochar can also sequester C [21,39,40], reducing available labile C, which is one of the factors controlling denitrification.On the other hand, it has been reported that biochar amendment can increase N 2 O emissions [33,41], what has been generally associated to an enhancement of nitrification [13,24].…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Recent meta-analyses have reported average reductions of N 2 O emissions for lab and field experiments between 32% and 54% [21-23] after biochar application. However, there are also studies indicating no effect from biochar application on N 2 O emissions [24][25][26][27] as well as increased emissions [28][29][30], and studies showing opposite outcomes by applying the same biochar to different soils [31][32][33].…”

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confidence: 99%

High-Temperature Hay Biochar Application into Soil Increases N2O Fluxes

et al. 2020

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Biochar has been proposed as an amendment that can improve soil conditions, increase harvest yield, and reduce N losses through NO3− leaching and N2O emissions. We conducted an experiment to test the hay biochar mitigation effect on N2O emissions depending on its production temperature. The pot experiment consisted of the soil amendment with three different production temperature biochars (300 °C, 550 °C, 850 °C) alone and in combination with three different organic fertilizers (cattle slurry, slurry digestate, vinasse), in growth chamber conditions. The effects of biochar and fertilizer were both significant, but the interaction biochar:fertilizer was not. The amendment with the three fertilizer types and with the highest production temperature biochar resulted in significantly higher cumulative N2O fluxes. Biochar did not show a mitigation effect on N2O emissions when applied with organic fertilizer. Cumulative emissions were higher with biochar addition, with increasing emissions for increasing biochar production temperature. Our results support the idea that biochar cannot be considered as a universal tool for the reduction of N2O emissions.

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Greenhouse gas emissions from soil amended with agricultural residue biochars: Effects of feedstock type, production temperature and soil moisture

Cited by 51 publications

References 51 publications

Biochar Amendment Enhances Water Retention in a Tropical Sandy Soil

Biochar Amendment Enhances Water Retention in a Tropical Sandy Soil

Carbon conversion and stabilisation of date palm and high rate algal pond (microalgae) biomass through slow pyrolysis

High-Temperature Hay Biochar Application into Soil Increases N2O Fluxes

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