EU COST Action
- Key Staff:
- Dr. Saran P. Sohi, Prof. Ondřej Mašek
- Timescale:
- 2012 to 2016
- Funding:
- EU COST
Biochar as an option for sustainable resource management
COST stands for "Cooperation in Science and Technology". It is a long running scheme of the European Commission, seeking breakthrough developments to strengthen Europe’s research and innovation capacity. COST builds capacity through networking (especially for early career investigators) snd increases impacts of research on policy makers, regulatory bodies and national decision makers - as well as the private sector.
The COST Action on Biochar was launched in 2012 and runs through 2016. The instigator and Chair of the initiative is Prof Bruno Glaser of Martin-Luther-University in Halle-Wittenberg, Germany.
Dr Saran Sohi (University of Edinburgh) is one of the UK representatives in this COST Action, alongside those of 26 other COST countries. Ruben Sakrabani (Cranfield University) and Luke Beesley are others.
National representatives are able to connect researchers working with biochar to COST Action activities, which are organised within "Working Groups". Collaboration is sustained through the European Biochar Research Network (eBRN), its online discussion forum (Basecamp), an Annual Meeting and interim ad hoc meetings organised around particular "focus" topics.
UKBRC at the University of Edinburgh organised the Annual Meeting of 5-7th November 2014, in conjunction with the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation.
UK researchers keen to contribute to the work of the COST Action should contact Saran or Ruben.
Publications:
Bachmann HJ, Bucheli TD, Dieguez-Alonso A, Fabbri D, Knicker HE, Schmidt H-P, Ulbricht A, Becker R, Buscaroli A, Buerge D, Cross A, Dickinson D [...] Masek O, Mumme J, Carmona M, Calvelo R, Rees F, Rombolà AG, de la Rosa JM, Sakrabani R, Sohi SP, Soja G, Valagussa M, Verheijen FGA, Franz F. 2016. Toward the standardization of biochar analysis: The COST Action TD1107 interlaboratory comparison. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 64: 513–527
Sohi SP and Kuppens T. 2016. Systems integration for biochar in European forestry: drivers and strategies. In: VJ Bruckman, EA Varol, BB Uzun, J Liu (Eds) Biochar: A regional Supply Chain Approach in View of Climate Change Mitigation. Cambridge University Press, pp 70-95
Latawiec AE, Peake L, Baxter H, Cornelissen G, Grotkiewicz K, Hale S, Królczyk JB, Kubon M, Łopatka A, Medynska-Juraszek A, Reid BJ, Siebielec G, Sohi SP, Spiak Z and Strassburg BBN. 2017. A reconnaissance-scale GIS-based multicriteria decision analysis to support sustainable biochar use: Poland as a case study. Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management 25: 208-222.
Kern J, Tammeorg P, Shanskiy M, Sakrabani R, Knicker H, Kammann C, Tuhkanen E-M, Smidt G, Prasad M, Tiilikkala K , Sohi SP, Gascó G, Steiner C, Glaser B. 2017. Synergistic use of peat and charred material in growing media – an option to reduce the pressure on peatlands? Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management 25: 160-174.