Potential and Constraints of Biochar for Carbon Sequestration and Soil Improvement

Current mitigation efforts of global climate change such as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and land use change (especially no tillage agriculture, desertification control and agriculture to pasture conversion) are ineffective in reducing anthropogenic CO2 emissions. New promising techniques do not only remove atmospheric CO2 but also use it (Carbon Capture and Use, CCU). Such techniques comprise use of solid carbon (biochar) for soil improvement. The existence of intensively used anthropogenic soils in central Amazonia (terra preta) proves that this is principally possible in the long term (for millennia).

The question is whether we are able to successfully copy and apply the terra preta concept for temperate (European) conditions. For this purpose, results from a large scale German field experiment will be presented. This biochar field experiment was established on in 2009 in Petershagen in one of the most arid regions of Germany (mean annual precipitation 430 mm). Soil type is a sandy dystric Cambisol with low low soil organic matter level, low soil fertility, and low water storage capacity. The one hectare field comprised five different treatments in five-fold replication: Control, compost (33 Mg ha-1) plus increasing biochar amounts (0, 5, 10 and 20 Mg ha-1). Results indicate 40% higher plant growth, 20% higher cation exchange capacity, 200% higher soil organic matter contents and 100% higher water storage capacity at 33 Mg ha-1 compost plus 20 Mg ha-1 biochar compared to unamended control. However, at least 10 Mg ha-1 of biochar is needed to unambiguously proof the soil melioration and C sequestration potential statistically under field conditions. In the future, more sensitive and / or more specific tools are necessary to show potential biochar benefits under field conditions.

Photo: Fotolia

Copyright:	© HAWK Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaft und Kunst - Fakultät Ressourcenmanagement
Quelle:	72. Symposium 2011 (Oktober 2011)
Seiten:	11
Preis:	€ 0,00
Autor:	Prof. Dr. Bruno Glaser

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