Biochar standards
- Thematic Strategy:
- Production
- Key Staff:
- Dr. Saran P. Sohi, Prof. Ondřej Mašek, Dr. Andrew Cross , Rodrigo Ibarrola , Jim Hammond
UKBRC is establishing an appropriate "minimum" standard for biochar alongside a set of assays to quantify positive attributes (see Biochar Screening Toolkit). The minimum standard ensures that applications to soil are safe, in particular addressing risk arising from any toxic elements present (along the same principle as for compost or sewage sludge) This is being explored in collaboration with the relevant regulatory authorities and industries. Positive attributes are important since they will add value to biochar added to soil and need to be assured. These include the stability of the carbon in biochar (relevant to possible carbon offsetting activties) and the supply of crop-relevant nutrients to the soil.
Relevant Projects:
- Ageing patterns for biochar in the field
- An assessment of the benefits and issues associated with the application of biochar to soil
- Biochar Risk Assessment Framework (BRAF)
- Biochar screening toolkit
- C-Sink project (EU Horizon Europe)
- Calibrating a method to compare biochar carbon stability
- DAC and other GGR technologies (Phase 2) - Biochar Platform
- EU COST Action
- Interreg IVB North Sea Region: Climate Saving Soils
- MSc / BSc Module: Novel Strategies for Soil Carbon Storage
- Taking commercial apple production to Net Zero
- The biochar-soil-plant interface: unlocking the potential for a sustainable phosphorus fertiliser
Publications:
Hammond J 2010. Advancing the science and evaluating biochar systems, write up of the 2nd UKBRC Annual Conference, UKBRC Working Paper 6.
Masek O, Buss W, Roy-Poirier A, Lowe W, Peters C, Brownsort P, Mignard D, Pritchard C and Sohi SP. 2018. Consistency of biochar properties over time and production scales: A characterisation of standard materials. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 132:200-210
Buss W, Graham MC, Shepherd JG and Masek O. 2016. Risks and benefits of marginal biomass-derived biochars for plant growth. Science of the Total Environment. 569/70: 496–506.
Buss W, Graham MC, Shepherd GJ and Masek O. 2016. Suitability of marginal biomass-derived biochars for soil amendment. Science of the Total Environment. 547:314–322.
Buss W and Masek O. 2016. High-VOC biochar – Effectiveness of post-treatment measures and potential health risks related to handling and storage. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 23: 19580–19589.
Buss W, Mašek O, Graham M and Wust D. 2015. Inherent organic compounds in biochar –their content, composition and potential toxic effects. Journal of Environmental Management 156: 150–157.
Buss W and Masek O. 2014. Mobile organic compounds in biochar – a potential source of contamination – phytotoxic effects on cress seed (Lepidium sativum) germination. Journal of Environmental Management 137: 111–119.
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.
Buss W, Graham MC, MacKinnon G and Masek O. 2016. Strategies for producing biochars with minimum PAH contamination. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 119: 24–30.
Shepherd JG, Buss W, Sohi SP and Heal KV. 2017. Bioavailability of phosphorus, other nutrients and potentially toxic elements from marginal biomass-derived biochar assessed in barley (Hordeum vulgare) growth experiments. Science of the Total Environment 584/5:448–457
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
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 SP, McDonagh J, Novak J, Wu W and Miu L. Biochar systems and system fit. 2015. In: J Lehmann, S Joseph (Eds) Biochar for Environmental Management, 2nd Edition. Routledge, Abingdon, UK, pp 737-761
Shackley, S., Sohi, S.P., Ibarrola, R.E., Hammond, J., Masek, O., Brownsort, P., Cross, A., Prendergast-Miller, M., Haszeldine, S. 2012, Biochar, Tool for Climate Change Mitigation and Soil Management. In: R Meyers (ed.), Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology, Springer Verlag, New York, pp. 913-961 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5770-1_6
Verheijen, F.G.A., Graber, E.R., Ameloot, N., Bastos, A.C., Sohi, S.P., Knicker, H. (2014) Biochars in soils: new insights and emerging research needs. European Journal of Soil Science 65:22–27
Shackley, S., Carter, S., Knowles, T., Middelink, E., Haefele, S., Sohi, S., Cross, A., Haszeldine, S. (2012), Sustainable gasification-biochar systems? A case-study of rice-husk gasification in Cambodia, Part I: context, chemical properties, environmental and health and safety issues, Energy Policy, 42: 49-58.
Shackley SJ and Sohi SP (eds) 2010. An assessment of the benefits and issues associated with the application of biochar to soil. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, London, UK.
Sohi SP, Shackley SJ, Haszeldine RS, Manning D and Mašek O 2009. Biochar, reducing and removing CO2 while improving soils:A significant and sustainable response to climate change. Evidence submitted to the Royal Society Geo-engineering Climate Enquiry, UKBRC Working Paper 2
Masek O, Buss W and Sohi SP. Standard biochar materials. 2018. Environmental Science and Technology 52:9543-9544