Ageing patterns for biochar in the field
- Key Staff:
- Dr. Saran P. Sohi, Tom Maxfield
- Timescale:
- September 2010 to August
- Funding:
- Research Council
The potential significance of stabilising plant-fixed carbon into charcoal-like material for climate change mitigation is now well established. However, the pattern of ageing in biochar and its quantitative degradation has only been possible using modelling techniques. The general objectives of this project are to assess the medium-term (decadal) stability of biochar using a chronosequence of sites where the used of biochar has been used for managing soil fertility for increasing lengths of time (a traditional practice in Ghanaian agriculture). This will be established by surface examination of biochar particles of different age, and triangulating with biochar samples artificially aged using the toolkit described above.
Publications:
Oliver, I., Cross, A., Searl, A., Shackley, S., Smith, C., Sohi, S. The State of Scotland's Soil: Emerging Issues, SEPA, 2011
Sohi, S.P. (2012) Carbon storage with benefits, Science, 338: 1034-1035
Cross, A., Sohi, S.P. (2013) A method for screening the relative long-term stability of biochar, GCB Bioenergy, 5:215-220
Liu Y, Sohi SP, Jing F and Chen J. 2019. Oxidative ageing induces change in the functionality of biochar and hydrochar: Mechanistic insights from sorption of atrazine. Environmental Pollution https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2019.03.035
Chang R, Sohi SP, Jing F, Liu Y and Chen J. 2019. A comparative study on biochar properties and Cd adsorption behavior under effects of ageing processes of leaching, acidification and oxidation. Environmental Pollution 254B: 113123.