Biochar screening toolkit
- Key Staff:
- Dr. Saran P. Sohi, Dr. Andrew Cross , Dr. Clare Peters
- Timescale:
- July 2009 - May 2011
- Funding:
- External
This project defined the “toolkit” required to screen different biochar products and select them for plot- and field tests. The toolkit comprises a set of biochar-specific laboratory methods targeting the key functions of biochar in soil. The initial five assays quantify the long-term stability of biochar carbon, the small labile fraction, the effect of biochar on pre-existing soil carbon (priming) and agronomic benefits arising from (a) direct nutrient supply from biochar over a finite timeframe and (b) the impact of biochar on soil structural properties.
Publications:
Sohi, S.P. (2012) Carbon storage with benefits, Science, 338: 1034-1035
Melia PM, Cundy AB, Sohi SP, Hooda PS and Busquets R. 2017. Trends in the recovery of phosphorus in bioavailable forms from wastewater. Chemosphere 186:381–395
Shepherd JG, Sohi SP and Heal KV. 2016. Optimising the recovery and re-use of phosphorus from wastewater effluent for sustainable fertiliser development. Water Research 94:155–165
Sohi, S.P. (2013) Pyrolysis bioenergy with biochar production – greater carbon abatement and benefits to soil, GCB Bioenergy, 5:i-iii
Cross, A., Sohi, S.P. (2013) A method for screening the relative long-term stability of biochar, GCB Bioenergy, 5:215-220
Crombie, K., Mašek, O., Sohi, S.P.. Brownsort, P., Cross, A. (2013) The effect of pyrolysis conditions on biochar stability as determined by three methods, GCB Bioenergy, 5:122-131
Mašek, O., Brownsort, P., Cross, A., & Sohi, S. (2011). Influence of production conditions on the yield and environmental stability of biochar. Fuel. doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2011.08.044
Angst, T.E., Sohi, S.P. (2013) Establishing release dynamics for plant nutrients from biochar, GCB Bioenergy, 5:221-226
Prendergast-Miller M.T., Duvall, M., Sohi, S.P. (2011) Localisation of nitrate in the rhizosphere of biochar-amended soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 43: 2243-2246
Cross, A., Sohi, S.P. (2011) The priming potential of biochar products in relation to labile carbon contents and soil
organic matter status, Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 43: 2127-2134Buss W, Assavavittayanon K, Shepherd J, Heal K and Sohi SP. 2018. Biochar phosphorus release is limited by high pH and excess calcium. 2018. Journal of Environmental Quality 47:1298-1303