Journal Article

Persistence in soil of Miscanthus biochar in laboratory and field conditions

Abiven, Samuel, Research Council of Norway (NFR) [NFR197531, NFR/192856]; Norwegian Financial Mechanism with Hungary "Green Industry Innovation" project [HU09-0029-A1-2013]; Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment through the NIBIO SIS-Jordkarbon project; MOLTER networking programme of the European Science Foundation [EG/3958], Rumpel, Cornélia, Norsk institutt for bioøkonomi=Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Ma, Xingzhu, Rasse, Daniel, P, O 'Toole, Adam, Universität Zürich [Zürich] = University of Zurich (UZH), Institut d'écologie et des sciences de l'environnement de Paris (iEES) ; Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Budai, Alice, Heilongjiang Bayi Agricultural University, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)

2017

Overview

Evaluating biochars for their persistence in soil under field conditions is an important step towards their implementation for carbon sequestration. Current evaluations might be biased because the vast majority of studies are short-term laboratory incubations of biochars produced in laboratory-scale pyrolyzers. Here our objective was to investigate the stability of a biochar produced with a medium-scale pyrolyzer, first through laboratory characterization and stability tests and then through field experiment. We also aimed at relating properties of this medium-scale biochar to that of a laboratory-made biochar with the same feedstock. Biochars were made of Miscanthus biomass for isotopic C-tracing purposes and produced at temperatures between 600 and 700˚C. The aromaticity and degree of condensation of aromatic rings of the medium-scale biochar was high, as was its resistance to chemical oxidation. In a 90-day laboratory incubation, cumulative mineralization was 0.1% for the medium-scale biochar vs. 45% for the Miscanthus feedstock, pointing to the absence of labile C pool in the biochar. These stability results were very close to those obtained for bio-char produced at laboratory-scale, suggesting that upscaling from laboratory to medium-scale pyrolyzers had little effect on biochar stability. In the field, the medium-scale biochar applied at up to 25 t C ha-1 decomposed at an estimated 0.8% per year. In conclusion, our biochar scored high on stability indices in the laboratory and displayed a mean residence time > 100 years in the field, which is the threshold for permanent removal in C sequestration projects.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,CCSD,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Aerobiosis / Analysis / Aromatic compounds / Aromaticity / Benzene - analysis / Biochar / Biology and Life Sciences / Biomarkers - analysis / Biomass / Carbon - analysis / Carbon capture and storage / Carbon dioxide / Carbon Dioxide - analysis / Carbon sequestration / Carboxylic Acids - analysis / Charcoal / Charcoal - analysis / Climate change / Decomposition / Ecology and Environmental Sciences / Ecology, environment / Emission standards / Emissions / Engineering and Technology / Environmental Engineering / Environmental Sciences / Greenhouse gases / Incubation / Laboratories / Laboratory scales / Life Sciences / Methods / Mineralization / Organic Chemicals - analysis / Oxidation / Oxidation resistance / Oxidation-reduction reactions / Physical Sciences / Poaceae - chemistry / Principal Component Analysis / Quality / Raw materials / Respiration / Scale (corrosion) / Seasons / Soil - chemistry / Soil conditions / Soil fertility / Soil sciences / Soils / Stability index / Stability indices / Stability tests / Studies / Technology application / Temperature
• ISBN: 0004092828000