Restoration of soil quality using biochar and brown coal waste: A review

Amoah-Antwi, Collins; Kwiatkowska-Malina, Jolanta; Thornton, Steven F.; Fenton, Owen; Malina, Grzegorz; Szara, Ewa

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137852

Cited by 147 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 177 publications

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“…If C storage was a goal, wood-based biochars, especially with high aromatic-C character (Wang et al 2016) and low O/C and H/C ratios (Spokas 2010) should be applied to soils. Grass-based feedstocks contained relatively elevated K and Ca content as compared to other feedstocks, while manures/biosolids-based feedstocks contained the greatest N, S, P, Ca, and Mg concentrations over biochars from other feedstocks, similar to findings by Amoah-Antwi et al (2020). At first glance, it appears that if N-P-K fertilizer use was a goal, grass-or manure/biosolids-based biochars could be utilized (Lin et al 2017;Gondek and Mierzwa-Hersztek 2016;Wang et al 2013;Brewer et al 2012); this concept is revised within the context of specific feedstock choices in Sect.…”

Section: Pyrolysis Type General Feedstock Choice and Pyrolysis Tempsupporting

confidence: 79%

Feedstock choice, pyrolysis temperature and type influence biochar characteristics: a comprehensive meta-data analysis review

Ippolito

Cui

Kammann

et al. 2020

Biochar

481

208

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Various studies have established that feedstock choice, pyrolysis temperature, and pyrolysis type influence final biochar physicochemical characteristics. However, overarching analyses of pre-biochar creation choices and correlations to biochar characteristics are severely lacking. Thus, the objective of this work was to help researchers, biochar-stakeholders, and practitioners make more well-informed choices in terms of how these three major parameters influence the final biochar product. Utilizing approximately 5400 peer-reviewed journal articles and over 50,800 individual data points, herein we elucidate the selections that influence final biochar physical and chemical properties, total nutrient content, and perhaps more importantly tools one can use to predict biochar’s nutrient availability. Based on the large dataset collected, it appears that pyrolysis type (fast or slow) plays a minor role in biochar physico- (inorganic) chemical characteristics; few differences were evident between production styles. Pyrolysis temperature, however, affects biochar’s longevity, with pyrolysis temperatures > 500 °C generally leading to longer-term (i.e., > 1000 years) half-lives. Greater pyrolysis temperatures also led to biochars containing greater overall C and specific surface area (SSA), which could promote soil physico-chemical improvements. However, based on the collected data, it appears that feedstock selection has the largest influence on biochar properties. Specific surface area is greatest in wood-based biochars, which in combination with pyrolysis temperature could likely promote greater changes in soil physical characteristics over other feedstock-based biochars. Crop- and other grass-based biochars appear to have cation exchange capacities greater than other biochars, which in combination with pyrolysis temperature could potentially lead to longer-term changes in soil nutrient retention. The collected data also suggest that one can reasonably predict the availability of various biochar nutrients (e.g., N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, and Cu) based on feedstock choice and total nutrient content. Results can be used to create designer biochars to help solve environmental issues and supply a variety of plant-available nutrients for crop growth.

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Section: Pyrolysis Type General Feedstock Choice and Pyrolysis Tempsupporting

confidence: 79%

Feedstock choice, pyrolysis temperature and type influence biochar characteristics: a comprehensive meta-data analysis review

Ippolito

Cui

Kammann

et al. 2020

Biochar

481

208

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“…Thus, biochar and BCW improve soil quality by increasing organic matter (OM) content and sorption capacity, which enhance soil aggregation, C sequestration, microbial activity, nutrient retention and pollutant (e.g. heavy metals) immobilisation with knock-on effects on water and air quality (Ouyang et al 2013;Li et al 2018;Amoah-Antwi et al 2020a;Pranagal and Kraska 2020). The enhanced structure, retention and slow chemical release capacities of soil can have variable positive effects on CO 2 , N 2 O, NH 3 and CH 4 fluxes to and then soil nutrient, heavy metal and organic pollutant fluxes to water along surface and near-surface pathways with significant consequences on climate change and water quality (Rose et al 2016;Saha et al 2018;Li et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, owing to their unique inherent properties, different types of biochar and BCW when applied to soil at specific rates can yield additional short-to long-term soil benefits (e.g. build soil organic matter (SOM) stocks and stimulate fungal diversity) which may directly influence resource availability and soil productivity (Bekele et al 2015;Amoah-Antwi et al 2020a). Evidence of the long-term benefits (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Holistic Assessment of Biochar and Brown Coal Waste as Organic Amendments in Sustainable Environmental and Agricultural Applications

Amoah-Antwi

Kwiatkowska-Malina

Fenton

et al. 2021

Water Air Soil Pollut

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Organic amendments can improve soil quality which has knock-on environmental and agronomic benefits. However, the use of new and emerging organic amendments such as biochar and brown coal waste (BCW) in soil systems requires continuous holistic assessments for robust consensus building in their environmental and agricultural applications. To examine the application of BCW and woodchip biochar (BIO) in agroecosystems, secondary data from literature on environmental (soil, air and water) aspects were compiled with primary agronomic data from a 3-year multicropping field trial and collated with supplementary data on economic factors (e.g. cost and availability). For the field trial, replicated plots were amended with FYM (for comparative reasons), BCW and BIO at 30, 24.2 and 12.8 for t ha–1, respectively, with and without NPK and cultivated in a cropping sequence of maize, potato and barley. At the end of each season, soils were characterised for pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC) and fertility (macronutrient contents) in addition to nutrient uptake, nutritional quality and yield of crops. Compared with FYM, biochar and BCW were found to be associated with greater improvements in soil quality (e.g. building of soil structure and C sequestration) and knock-on water and air quality benefits mainly facilitated via increased cation retention and humic-linked sorption which abated gaseous emission and mitigated nutrient and heavy metal leaching. These along with variable improvements in soil chemistry, fertility and nutrient uptake in the agronomic field trial accounted for increased mean crop yield across treatments (higher with NPK): FYM (32.7 and 71.7%), BCW (33.5 and 60.1%) and BIO (21.8 and 48.2%). Additionally, biochar and BCW have lower pollutant (e.g. heavy metals) contents and were found to provide additional sustainability and net abatement cost-benefits. While the agronomic benefits of biochar and BCW were slightly lower compared with that of FYM, their lower environmental footprints and associated sustainability benefits are clear advantages for their adoption in environmental and agricultural applications.

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“…The use of biochar and brown coal waste (BCW) for improving the physicochemical and biological characteristics of soil to promote HM sorption and immobilisation is a growing research area (Amoah-Antwi et al 2020). The immobilising effect of these porous organic materials on HMs can be attributed to increases in soil pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC) and specific surface area (SSA) (Kwiatkowska et al 2006;Sokołowska et al 2007;Lwin et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, despite a plethora of research on biochar, there is still lack of coherence over its efficacy for the sorption of different HMs in a range of soils (Khan et al 2015;Woldetsadik et al 2016;Lomaglio et al 2017). On the other hand, BCW is a slowly emerging soil amendment, and therefore, its effects on HMs are not yet fully elucidated (Amoah-Antwi et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficacy of Woodchip Biochar and Brown Coal Waste as Stable Sorbents for Abatement of Bioavailable Cadmium, Lead and Zinc in Soil

Amoah-Antwi

Kwiatkowska-Malina

Szara

et al. 2020

Water Air Soil Pollut

Self Cite

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Organic sorbents alter physicochemical soil properties and mitigate heavy metal (HM) bioavailability. However, some sorbents are labile and, therefore, introduce the risk of HM release into soil after mineralisation. Before field application, new stable organic sorbents such as woodchip biochar (BIO) and brown coal waste (BCW) need to be tested and compared with standard organic amendments like farmyard manure (FYM). An incubated pot experiment was conducted to investigate the efficacy of FYM, BIO and BCW (added to soil in pots at 5 and 10% w/w) to alter soil physicochemical properties and mitigate bioavailability of Cd, Pb and Zn spiked in treatments at different doses (in mg kg−1); 0 (not spiked), 1 (1 Cd, 70 Pb, 100 Zn) and 2 (3 Cd, 500 Pb, 700 Zn), and incubated for 9 weeks. At the end of the experiment, the EDTA-extractable HM fractions, pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC) and specific surface area (SSA, to check trends) were determined in all treated soils. Results showed that FYM, BCW and BIO generally improved all soil properties (except reduced pH from BCW and apparent SSA reduction from FYM) and accounted for respective maximum abatements of Cd (50.2, 69.9 and 25.5%), Pb (34.2, 64.3 and 17.4%) and Zn (14.9, 17.7 and 11.8%) bioavailability in soil. FYM and BCW were more effective at 10% w/w especially in the low contaminated soil, whereas the highest efficacy for BIO was at 5% w/w and in the high contaminated soil. The efficacies of sorption by the organic sorbents varied for different HMs and were in the orders: BCW > FYM > BIO for Cd, FYM > BCW > BIO for Pb and BIO > BCW > FYM for Zn. Soil pH and CEC were strongly correlated with HM bioavailability in all treatments and implied that immobilisation of HMs occurred via complex formation, ion exchange and pH-dependent specific adsorption. All three sorbents were beneficial as soil amendments, and in terms of HM mitigation, BCW had the highest efficacy, followed by FYM and then BIO. Considering the documented high soil stability of BCW and BIO, these results are promising for further trialling at field scale.

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Restoration of soil quality using biochar and brown coal waste: A review

Cited by 147 publications

References 177 publications

Feedstock choice, pyrolysis temperature and type influence biochar characteristics: a comprehensive meta-data analysis review

Feedstock choice, pyrolysis temperature and type influence biochar characteristics: a comprehensive meta-data analysis review

Holistic Assessment of Biochar and Brown Coal Waste as Organic Amendments in Sustainable Environmental and Agricultural Applications

Efficacy of Woodchip Biochar and Brown Coal Waste as Stable Sorbents for Abatement of Bioavailable Cadmium, Lead and Zinc in Soil

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