IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v13y2023i10p2003-d1260272.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Biochar Functions in Soil Depending on Feedstock and Pyrolyzation Properties with Particular Emphasis on Biological Properties

Author

Listed:
  • Polina Kuryntseva

    (Institute of Environmental Sciences, Kazan Federal University, Kazan 420008, Russia)

  • Kamalya Karamova

    (Institute of Environmental Sciences, Kazan Federal University, Kazan 420008, Russia)

  • Polina Galitskaya

    (Institute of Environmental Sciences, Kazan Federal University, Kazan 420008, Russia)

  • Svetlana Selivanovskaya

    (Institute of Environmental Sciences, Kazan Federal University, Kazan 420008, Russia)

  • Gennady Evtugyn

    (Alexander Butlerov Institute of Chemistry, Kazan Federal University, Kazan 420008, Russia)

Abstract

Biochar effects are strongly dependent on its properties. Biochar improves physical soil properties by decreasing bulk density and increasing medium and large aggregates, leading to faster and deeper water infiltration and root growth. Improvement of the chemical properties of soil is connected with pH neutralization of acidic soils, increase of cation exchange capacity and base saturation, providing a larger surface for sorption of toxicants and exchange of cations. Biochar increases the stocks of macro- and micronutrients in soil and remains sufficient for decades. Biochar effects on (micro)biological properties are mainly indirect, based on the improvements of habitat conditions for organisms, deeper root growth providing available C for larger soil volume, higher crop yield leading to more residues on and in the topsoil, better and deeper soil moisture, supply of all nutrients, and better aeration. Along with positive, negative effects of biochar while used as a soil conditioner are discussed in the review: presence of PAH, excessive amounts of K, Ca and Mg, declination of soil pH. In conclusion, despite the removal of C from the biological cycle by feedstock pyrolysis, the subsequent application of biochar into soil increases fertility and improves physical and chemical properties for root and microbial growth is a good amendment for low fertility soils. Proper use of biochar leads not only to an increase in crop yield but also to effective sequestration of carbon in the soil, which is important to consider when economically assessing its production. Further research should be aimed at assessing and developing methods for increasing the sequestration potential of biochar as fertilizer.

Suggested Citation

  • Polina Kuryntseva & Kamalya Karamova & Polina Galitskaya & Svetlana Selivanovskaya & Gennady Evtugyn, 2023. "Biochar Functions in Soil Depending on Feedstock and Pyrolyzation Properties with Particular Emphasis on Biological Properties," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-39, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:13:y:2023:i:10:p:2003-:d:1260272
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/10/2003/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/10/2003/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alexandre Tisserant & Francesco Cherubini, 2019. "Potentials, Limitations, Co-Benefits, and Trade-Offs of Biochar Applications to Soils for Climate Change Mitigation," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-34, November.
    2. Prasad, S. & Singh, Anoop & Joshi, H.C., 2007. "Ethanol as an alternative fuel from agricultural, industrial and urban residues," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 1-39.
    3. Johannes Lehmann & John Gaunt & Marco Rondon, 2006. "Bio-char Sequestration in Terrestrial Ecosystems – A Review," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 395-419, March.
    4. Ahmad Numery Ashfaqul Haque & Md. Kamal Uddin & Muhammad Firdaus Sulaiman & Adibah Mohd Amin & Mahmud Hossain & Zakaria M. Solaiman & Mehnaz Mosharrof, 2022. "Rice Growth Performance, Nutrient Use Efficiency and Changes in Soil Properties Influenced by Biochar under Alternate Wetting and Drying Irrigation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-19, June.
    5. Lauri Leppäkoski & Miika P. Marttila & Ville Uusitalo & Jarkko Levänen & Vilma Halonen & Mirja H. Mikkilä, 2021. "Assessing the Carbon Footprint of Biochar from Willow Grown on Marginal Lands in Finland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-19, September.
    6. Sara Rajabi Hamedani & Tom Kuppens & Robert Malina & Enrico Bocci & Andrea Colantoni & Mauro Villarini, 2019. "Life Cycle Assessment and Environmental Valuation of Biochar Production: Two Case Studies in Belgium," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-21, June.
    7. Thomas F. Ducey & Jeffrey M. Novak & Mark G. Johnson, 2015. "Effects of Biochar Blends on Microbial Community Composition in Two Coastal Plain Soils," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-16, November.
    8. Gyami Shrestha & Samuel J. Traina & Christopher W. Swanston, 2010. "Black Carbon’s Properties and Role in the Environment: A Comprehensive Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 2(1), pages 1-27, January.
    9. Andrenelli, M.C. & Maienza, A. & Genesio, L. & Miglietta, F. & Pellegrini, S. & Vaccari, F.P. & Vignozzi, N., 2016. "Field application of pelletized biochar: Short term effect on the hydrological properties of a silty clay loam soil," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 190-196.
    10. Dhyani, Vaibhav & Bhaskar, Thallada, 2018. "A comprehensive review on the pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 129(PB), pages 695-716.
    11. Shi-Xiang Zhao & Na Ta & Xu-Dong Wang, 2017. "Effect of Temperature on the Structural and Physicochemical Properties of Biochar with Apple Tree Branches as Feedstock Material," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-15, August.
    12. Hammond, Jim & Shackley, Simon & Sohi, Saran & Brownsort, Peter, 2011. "Prospective life cycle carbon abatement for pyrolysis biochar systems in the UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 2646-2655, May.
    13. Jorge Paz-Ferreiro & Aurora Nieto & Ana Méndez & Matthew Peter James Askeland & Gabriel Gascó, 2018. "Biochar from Biosolids Pyrolysis: A Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-16, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alexandre Tisserant & Francesco Cherubini, 2019. "Potentials, Limitations, Co-Benefits, and Trade-Offs of Biochar Applications to Soils for Climate Change Mitigation," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-34, November.
    2. Lauri Leppäkoski & Miika P. Marttila & Ville Uusitalo & Jarkko Levänen & Vilma Halonen & Mirja H. Mikkilä, 2021. "Assessing the Carbon Footprint of Biochar from Willow Grown on Marginal Lands in Finland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-19, September.
    3. Song, Biao & Almatrafi, Eydhah & Tan, Xiaofei & Luo, Songhao & Xiong, Weiping & Zhou, Chengyun & Qin, Meng & Liu, Yang & Cheng, Min & Zeng, Guangming & Gong, Jilai, 2022. "Biochar-based agricultural soil management: An application-dependent strategy for contributing to carbon neutrality," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    4. Kung, Chih-Chun & McCarl, Bruce A. & Cao, Xiaoyong, 2013. "Economics of pyrolysis-based energy production and biochar utilization: A case study in Taiwan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 317-323.
    5. Isabel Teichmann, 2015. "An Economic Assessment of Soil Carbon Sequestration with Biochar in Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1476, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    6. Yang, Xuanmin & Kang, Kang & Qiu, Ling & Zhao, Lixin & Sun, Renhua, 2020. "Effects of carbonization conditions on the yield and fixed carbon content of biochar from pruned apple tree branches," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 1691-1699.
    7. Saowanee Wijitkosum, 2023. "Repurposing Disposable Bamboo Chopsticks Waste as Biochar for Agronomical Application," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-16, January.
    8. Mishra, Ranjeet Kumar & Mohanty, Kaustubha, 2019. "Pyrolysis of three waste biomass: Effect of biomass bed thickness and distance between successive beds on pyrolytic products yield and properties," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 549-558.
    9. Samoraj, Mateusz & Dmytryk, Agnieszka & Tuhy, Łukasz & Zdunek, Anna & Rusek, Piotr & Moustakas, Konstantinos & Chojnacka, Katarzyna, 2023. "Applicability of alfalfa and goldenrod residues after supercritical CO2 extraction to plant micronutrient biosorption and renewable energy production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(PA).
    10. Su, Guangcan & Mohd Zulkifli, Nurin Wahidah & Ong, Hwai Chyuan & Ibrahim, Shaliza & Bu, Quan & Zhu, Ruonan, 2022. "Pyrolysis of oil palm wastes for bioenergy in Malaysia: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    11. Yuan, Xiangzhou & Wang, Junyao & Deng, Shuai & Suvarna, Manu & Wang, Xiaonan & Zhang, Wei & Hamilton, Sara Triana & Alahmed, Ammar & Jamal, Aqil & Park, Ah-Hyung Alissa & Bi, Xiaotao & Ok, Yong Sik, 2022. "Recent advancements in sustainable upcycling of solid waste into porous carbons for carbon dioxide capture," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    12. Qambrani, Naveed Ahmed & Rahman, Md. Mukhlesur & Won, Seunggun & Shim, Soomin & Ra, Changsix, 2017. "Biochar properties and eco-friendly applications for climate change mitigation, waste management, and wastewater treatment: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 255-273.
    13. Isabel Teichmann, 2014. "Technical Greenhouse-Gas Mitigation Potentials of Biochar Soil Incorporation in Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1406, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    14. Yang, Qing & Han, Fei & Chen, Yingquan & Yang, Haiping & Chen, Hanping, 2016. "Greenhouse gas emissions of a biomass-based pyrolysis plant in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1580-1590.
    15. Yaming Zhao & Xiangjun Wang & Guangwei Yao & Zhizhong Lin & Laiyuan Xu & Yunli Jiang & Zewen Jin & Shengdao Shan & Lifeng Ping, 2022. "Advances in the Effects of Biochar on Microbial Ecological Function in Soil and Crop Quality," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-11, August.
    16. Lizhen Qin & Donghoon Shin, 2023. "Effects of UV Light Treatment on Functional Group and Its Adsorption Capacity of Biochar," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-14, July.
    17. Katsuyuki Nakano & Ken Yamagishi, 2021. "Impact of Carbon Tax Increase on Product Prices in Japan," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-19, April.
    18. Yang, Yuhan & Wang, Tiancheng & Hu, Hongyun & Yao, Dingding & Zou, Chan & Xu, Kai & Li, Xian & Yao, Hong, 2021. "Influence of partial components removal on pyrolysis behavior of lignocellulosic biowaste in molten salts," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 616-625.
    19. Lybbert, Travis & Sumner, Daniel, 2010. "Agricultural Technologies for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Developing Countries: Policy Options for Innovation and Technology Diffusion," Climate Change 320104, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD).
    20. Ayub, Yousaf & Ren, Jingzheng & Shi, Tao & Shen, Weifeng & He, Chang, 2023. "Poultry litter valorization: Development and optimization of an electro-chemical and thermal tri-generation process using an extreme gradient boosting algorithm," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PC).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:13:y:2023:i:10:p:2003-:d:1260272. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.