Biochar: Difference between revisions
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==Feedstocks== | ==Feedstocks== | ||
Any biomass can (theoretically) become biochar. The most famous example, charcoal, simply refers to biochar for which wood is the feedstock. There are as many feedstocks as there are flora. | |||
Biomass waste materials appropriate for biochar production include crop residues (both field residues and processing residues such as nut shells, fruit pits, bagasse, etc), as well as yard, food and forestry wastes, and animal manures. [https://biochar-international.org/biochar-feedstocks/] | |||
Large amounts of agricultural, municipal, and forestry biomass are currently burned or left to decompose and release CO2 and methane back into the atmosphere. They also can pollute local ground and surface waters — a large issue for livestock wastes. Effective pyrolysis, however much it may itself pollute, will remove such biomass from the pollution cycle. | |||
===Projects=== | ===Projects=== | ||
Revision as of 23:08, 15 April 2022
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Definition
Historical
Archaic
- Charcoal
Revival
Technical
Biochar is an output of pyrolysis. Biomass, known as the feedstock, often yields carbon in this highly compressed solid form. However, the value of char is as much about what is not in it as what is; that is, the porous structure of its C content makes it a kind of microscopic sponge. [1] Accordingly the following two sections map, in greater detail, first the positive and then the negative spaces of biochar.
Crystals
Biochar is considered to be the most stable form of organic carbon existing in the terrestrial environment[2].
Cavities
Production
Feedstocks
Any biomass can (theoretically) become biochar. The most famous example, charcoal, simply refers to biochar for which wood is the feedstock. There are as many feedstocks as there are flora.
Biomass waste materials appropriate for biochar production include crop residues (both field residues and processing residues such as nut shells, fruit pits, bagasse, etc), as well as yard, food and forestry wastes, and animal manures. [3]
Large amounts of agricultural, municipal, and forestry biomass are currently burned or left to decompose and release CO2 and methane back into the atmosphere. They also can pollute local ground and surface waters — a large issue for livestock wastes. Effective pyrolysis, however much it may itself pollute, will remove such biomass from the pollution cycle.
Projects
Pyrolyses
Projects
Application
Carbon Sequestration
Biochar has been identified as a key means of sequestering (removing and storing) carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, either into the Earth's soil or products made from Biochar. A group of scientists published in Nature in 2019 identified Biochar as the negative emissions technology "at the highest technology readiness level." [4] According to their research, the global carbon sequestration potential of biochar (when also using potassium as a low-concentration additive) is over 2.6 billion tons of CO2/year.
Projects
Soil Amendment
Biochar increases long-term soil organic carbon content in a form which can endure for thousands of years, as seen in the Amazonian Black Earth.
Additional benefits of Biochar for soil include improved soil texture, nutrient retention, cation exchange capacity,[2] water retention,[3] and microorganism habitat.[4]
Projects
Feed Additive
Livestock farmers increasingly use biochar as a regular feed supplement to improve animal health and increase nutrient intake efficiency. As biochar gets enriched with nitrogen-rich organic compounds during the digestion process, the excreted biochar-manure becomes a more valuable organic fertilizer causing lower nutrient losses and greenhouse gas emissions during storage and soil application.
An analysis of 112 scientific papers on biochar feed supplements has shown that in most studies and for all farm animal species, positive effects could be found on different parameters, such as:
- growth
- digestion
- feed efficiency
- toxin adsorption
- blood levels
- meat quality
- gas emissions
However, a relevant part of the studies obtained results that were not statistically significant. Most importantly, no significant negative effects on animal health were found in any of the reviewed publications. [5]
Projects
Water Filter
Charcoal has been a part of water treatment for at least 4000 years.[6] Biochar’s incredible porosity and surface area give it a high capacity to adsorb a wide variety of contaminants from water.[7]
Laboratory testing shows that biochar can effectively reduce contaminants including:
• Heavy metals like lead, copper, zinc, cadmium, cobalt, and nickel;
• Organics such as gasoline compounds and other volatile organics, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and some herbicides, pesticides and pharmaceuticals;
• Chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD);
• Nutrients such as phosphorus and ammonia;
• Totals suspended solids (TSS).[8]
A 2019 study in the Journal of Environmental Management Found that wastewater treatment using biochar in modified sand filters would be able to achieve a similar level of effectiveness in "significant microbe removal" and "reduce the land requirement for implementation of biochar in treatment facilities," helping overcome a "major constraint" to wastewater treatment on farms.[9]
How To
Video: https://youtu.be/kazEAzGWuIc
Manual: http://www.aqsolutions.org/images/2010/06/water-system-handbook.pdf
Projects
Insulation
Projects
Supercapacitor
Projects
Asphalt
Ink
Paper
Plastic
Sources
[1] <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-41953-0>
[2] <https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/11/3211/pdf>
[3] <https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2015.00733/full>