Biochar for Climate Change Mitigation and Ameliorating Soil Health—A Review
Abstract
In world about 2.7 billion people use wood, cow dung and crop residue for cooking and house heating. India produces about 120-150 million tons surplus biomass and most them are burn on the field. These agro-residue and biomass are not waste but the resources and can be utilized by meeting the challenge of soil degradation, environmental pollution and energy security. The present paper put light on the potential of the biochar as an agent for mitigating climate change and improving soil health. The biochar has higher calorific value than the raw biomass and is stabilized carbon. Design improvement of cook stove and portable biochar kiln would help in biomass conservation, efficient utilization of biomass as energy source, reduction in greenhouse gases (especially CO2) emission, black carbon reduction which is responsible for global warming. The biochar embedment in soil improves soil health and carbon sequestration. Therefore, application of biochar needs to be encouraged through the participation of public & private institutions, NGOs and farmers.References
Abiven S, Schmidt MWI and Lehmann J. 2014. Biochar by design. Nature Geoscience 7: 326-27.
Barker T, Bashmakov I, Bernstein L, Bogner JE, Bosch PR, Dave R, Davidson OR, Fisher BS, Gupta S, Halsnæs K, Heij GJ, Kahn Ribeiro S. 2007. Climate change 2007: Mitigation. Contribution of working group III to the fourth assessment. In ‘‘Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’’ (B Metz, OR Davidson, PR Bosch, R Dave, and LA Meyer, Eds.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Chan KY, Zwieten LV, Meszaros I, Downie A and Joseph S. 2007. Agronomic values of green waste biochar as a soil amendment. Australian Journal of Soil Research 45:629-34.
Chidumayo EN. 1994. Effects of wood carbonization on soil and initial development of seedlings in miombo woodland, Zambia. Forest Ecology and Management 70: 353-7.
Cornelissen GV, Martinsen V, Shitumbanuma V, Alling GD, Breedveld DW, Rutherford M, Sparrevik M, Hale SE, Obia A, Mulder J. 2013. Biochar effect on maize yield and soil characteristics in fi ve conservation farming sites in Zambia. Agronomy 3(2): 256-74.
Gangil S and Wakudkar HM. 2013. Generation of bio-char from crop residues. International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering 3(3):566-70.
Gaskin JW, Steiner C, Harris K, Das KC, Bibens B. 2008. Effectof low temperature pyrolysis conditions on biochar for agricultural use. Trans. ASABE. 51: 2061-9.
Gaunt J and Cowie A. 2009. Biochar greenhouse gas accounting and emission trading. In: Biochar for environmental management (J. Lehmann and S. Joseph eds.), Science and Technology, Earthscan, London. pp 317-40.
Glaser B, Lehmann J and Zech W. 2002. Ameliorating physical and chemical properties of highly weathered soils in the tropics with charcoal-a review. Biology and Fertility Soils 35: 219-30.
Gwenzi W, Chaukura N, Mukome FND, Machado S, Nyamasoka B.2015. Biochar production and applications in sub-Saharan Africa: Opportunities, constraints, risks and uncertainties. Journal of Environmental Management 150: 250-61.
Hass A, Gonzalez JM, Lima IM, Godwin HW, Halvorson JJ, Boyer DG. 2012. Chicken manure biochar as liming and nutrient source for acid Appalachian soil. J. Environ. Qual. 41(4):1096-1106.
IBI (International Biochar Initiative). 2012. http://www.biochar-international.org (accessed on 20.02.15).
Iswaran V, Jauhri KS and Sen A. 1980. Effect of charcoal, coal and peat on the yield of moong, soybean and pea. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 12:191-2.
Karhu K, Mattila T, Bergström I and Regina K. 2011. Biochar addition to agricultural soil increased CH4 uptake and water holding capacity--Results from a short-term pilot fi eld study. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Enviroment 104: 309-13.
Kimetu JM, Lehmann J, Ngoze SO, Mugendi DN, Kinyangi JM, Riha S, Verchot L, Recha JW and Pell AN. 2008. Reversibility of soil productivity decline with organic matter of differing quality along a degradation gradient. Ecosystems 11: 726-39.
Kishimoto S and Sugiura G. 1985. Charcoal as a soil conditioner. Int. Achieve Future 5: 12-23.
Kumar S, Masto RE, Ram LC, Sarkar P, George J and Selvi VA. 2013. Biochar preparation from Parthenium hysterophorus and its potential use in soil application. Ecol. Eng. 55: 67-72.
Laird DA. 2008. The charcoal vision: A win-win-win scenario for simultaneously producing bioenergy, permanently sequestering carbon, while improving soil and water quality. Agronomy Journal 100: 178-81.
Lehmann J and Rondon M. 2006. Biochar soil management on highly weathered soils in the humid tropics. In: Biological Approaches to Sustainable Soil Systems (N. Uphoff et al. eds), Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. pp 517-30.
Lehmann J. 2007. A handful of carbon. Nature 447:143-4
Lehmann J, Pereira da Silva Jr. J, Steiner C, Nehls T, Zech W and Glaser B. 2003. Nutrient availability and leaching in an archaeological Anthrosol and a Ferralsol of the Central Amazon basin: fertilizer, manure and charcoal amendments. Plant and Soil 249: 343-57
Liang BL, Solomon J, Kinyangi D, Grossman J, ONeill J, Skjemstad B. 2006. Black carbon increases cation exchange capacity in soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 70:1719-30.
Major J, Rondon M, Molina D, Riha SJ, Lehmann J. 2010. Maize yield and nutrition during 4 years after biochar application to a Colombian savanna oxisol. Plant Soil 333: 117-128. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0327-0.
Mukherjee A and Lal R. 2013. Biochar impacts on soil physical properties and greenhouse gas emissions. Agronomy 3: 311-18.
Mukome FN, Six J, Parikh SJ. 2013. The effects of walnut shell and wood feed- stock biochar amendments on greenhouse gas emissions from a fertile soil. Geoderma 200: 90-8.
Nagori GP. 2012. Biochar an effective substitute for P-fertilizer. Renewable Energy Askhya Urja 5(6):28-31.
Oguntunde PG, Fosu M, Ajayi AE and Van de Giesen N. 2004. Effects of charcoal production on maize yield, chemical properties and texture of soil. Biology & Fertility of Soils 39: 295-99.
Parmar A, Nema PK and Agarwal T. 2014 Biochar production from agro-food industry residues: a sustainable approach for soil and environmental management. Current Science 107(10):1673-82.
Reddy SBN. 2012. Understanding Stove for environment and humanity, published by Metameta, Paardskerkhofweg, 14 5223 AJ's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands.
Rillig MC, Wagner M, Salem M, Antunes PM, George C, Ramke HG, Titirici MM and Antonietti M. 2010. Material derived from hydrothermal carbonization: effects on plant growth and arbuscular mycorrhiza. Appl. Soil Ecol. 45: 238-42.
Rondon M, Ramirez JA and Lehmann J. 2005. Charcoal additions reduce net emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. In: Proceedings of the 3rd USDA Symposium on Greenhouse Gases and Carbon Sequestration in Agriculture and Forestry, 2005 Mar 21-24. University of Delaware Press, Baltimore, MD.
Rondon MA, Molina D, Hurtado M, Ramirez J, Lehmann J, Major J, Amezquita, E. 2006. Enhancing the productivity of crops and grasses while reducing greenhouse gas emissions through bio-char amendments to unfertile tropical soils. In: Proceedings of the 18th World Congress of Soil Science. Philadelphia, PA, July 9-15, 2006. Presentation No. 138-68.
Rondon MA, Lehmann J, Ramirez J and Hurtado M. 2007. Biological nitrogen fixation by common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) increases with biochar additions. Biology and Fertility of Soils 43: 699-708.
Shenbagavalli S and Mahimairaja S.2012. Characterization and effect of biochar on nitrogen and Carbon dynamics in soil. International Journal for Advanced Biological Research 2(2):249-55.
Sika MP and Hardie AG. 2014. Effect of pine wood biochar on ammonium nitrate leaching and availability in a South African sandy soil. Eur. J. Soil Sci. 65(1):113-19.
Sohi S, Lopez-Capel E, Krull E and Bol R. 2009. Biochar, climate change and soil: A review to guide future research. Rep. No. 05/09. CSIRO.
Sohi SP, Krull E, Lopez-Capel E and Bol R.2010. A review of Biochar and its use and function in soil. Advances in Agronomy 105: 47-82.
Solaiman SM, Murphy DV, Abbott LK. 2012. Biochars infl uence seed germination and early growth of seedlings. Plant and Soil 353:273-87.
Srinivasarao C, Gopinath KA, Venkatesh G, Dubey AK, Wakudkar H, Purakayastha TJ, Pathak H, Jha P, Lakaria BL, Rajkhowa DJ, Mandal S, Jeyaraman S, Venkateswarlu B and Sikka AK. 2013. Use of Biochar for soil health enhancement and Greenhouse Gas mitigation in India: Potential and contraints. NICRA Bulletin 1/2013
Steiner C, Teixeira WG, Lehmann J, Nehls T, de Macedo JLV, Blum WEH and Zech W. 2007. Long term effects of manure, charcoal and mineral fertilization on crop production and fertility on a highly weathered Central Amazonian upland soil. Plant and Soil 291:275-90.
Taghizadeh-Toosi A, Clough TJ, Condron LM, Sherlock RR, Anderson CR and Craigie RA. 2011. Biochar incorporation into pasture soil suppresses in situ nitrous oxide emissions from ruminant urine patches. J. Environ. Qual. 40: 468-76.
Torres D. 2011. Biochar Production with Cook Stoves and Use as a Soil Conditioner in Western Kenya. MSc thesis. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
Torres D, Lehmann J, Hobbs P, Joseph S and Neufeldt H. 2011. Biomass availability, energy consumption and biochar production in rural households of Western Kenya. Biomass and Bioenergy 35:3537-46.
Tryon EH. 1948. Effect of charcoal on certain physical, chemical, and biological properties of forest soils. Ecological Monographs 18: 81-115.
Uzoma KC, Inoue M, Andry H, Fujimaki H, Zahoor A and Nishihara E. 2011. Effects of cow manure biochar on maize productivity under sandy soil condition. Soil Use Manag. 28:205-12.
Venkatesh G, Venkateswarlu B, Gopinat KA, Srinivasarao C, Korwar GR and Reddy SB. 2013. Low cost portable kiln for Biochar production, NICRA Technical Boucher.
Verheijen F, Jeffery S, Bastos AC, Van der Velde M and Diafas I. 2010. Biochar Application to Soils--A Critical Scientifi c Review of Effects on Soil Properties, Processes and Functions. EUR 24099 EN. Office for the Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg, 149pp.
Verma M, Godbout S, Brar SK, Solomatnikova O, Lemay SP, Larouche JP. 2012. Biofuels production from biomass by thermochemical conversion technologies. Int. J. Chem. Eng. 1e18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/542426.
Warnock DD, Lehmann J, Kuyper TW and Rillig MC. 2007. Mycorrhizal responses to biochar in soil–concepts and mechanisms. Plant and Soil 300: 9-20.
Weixiang W, Yang M , Feng Q, McGrouther K , Wang H, Lu H, Chen Y.2012. Chemical characterization of rice straw-derived biochar for soil amendment. Biomass and Bioenergy 47: 268-76.
Woolf D. 2008. Biochar as a soil amendment: A review of the environmental implications. [Online] Available http://orgprints.org/13268/1/Biochar_as_a_soil_ amendment_-_a_review.pdf (accessed on 10.01.2015)
Xu G, Wei L, Sun J, Shao H and Chang S. 2012. What is more important for enhancing nutrient bioavailability with biochar application into a sandy soil: direct or indirect mechanism? Ecol. Eng. 52: 119-24.
Yamamoto M, Okimori Y, Wibowo IF, Anshori S and Ogawa M. 2006. Effects of the application of charred bark of Acacia mangium on the yield of maize, cowpea and peanut, and soil chemical properties in South Sumatra, Indonesia. Soil Science and Plant Nutrition 52: 489-95.
Yanai Y, Toyota K and Okazani M. 2007. Effects of charcoal addition on N2O emissions from soil resulting from rewetting air-dried soil in short-term laboratory experiments. Soil Science and Plant Nutrition 53: 181-88.
Yao Y, Gao B, Inyang M, Zimmerman AR, Cao X, Pullammanappallil P and Yang L. 2011. Biochar derived from anaerobically digested sugar beet tailings: Characterization and phosphate removal potential. Bioresource Technology 102: 6273-88.
Zhang A, Liu Y, Pan G, Hussain Q, Li L, Zheng J and Zhang X. 2011. Effect of biochar amendment on maize yield and greenhouse gas emissions from a soil organic carbon poor calcareous loamy soil from Central China Plain. Plant and Soil 351:263-275.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-0957-x.
Zhang A, Bian R, Pan G, Cui L, Hussain Q, Li L, Zheng J, Zhenga J, Zhang X, Han X and Yu, X. 2012. Effects of biochar amendment on soil quality, crop yield and greenhouse gas emission in a Chinese rice paddy: A field study of 2 consecutive rice growing cycles. Field Crops Research 127:153-60.
Zimmerman A. 2010. Abiotic and microbial oxidation of laboratory-produced black carbon (biochar). Environ. Sci. Technol. 44 (4):1295-1301.
Zwieten van L, Kimber S, Morris S, Chan KY, Downie A, Rust J, Joseph S and Cowie A. 2010. Effects of biochar from slow pyrolysis of paper mill waste on agronomic performance and soil fertility. Plant and Soil 327:235-46.
