Biochar and international development
- Thematic Strategy:
- Soils; Systems & Social
- Key Staff:
- Dr. Saran P. Sohi, Prof. Ondřej Mašek, Dr. Andrew Cross , Abbie Clare
The agronomic benefits of biochar have usually been shown to be greater in dry, sandy and nutrient poor soils. There are many such soils in the developing world, and there are also large numbers of people whose main source of food and income is small scale agriculture. In these types of environment it is hoped that biochar could improve crop productivity and soil quality, which will only become more important as the effect of climate change become more marked.
Biochar can be produced at household scale in fuel efficient smokeless stoves, or at larger scales delivering electrical power to communities.
There are of course challenges, including costs, encultured ways of doing things, logistics, technologies and integration into different forms of agriculture.
.jpg)
We currently have projects in Cambodia, India and Ghana.
Relevant Projects:
- BIOCHARM: Biochar for carbon reduction, sustainable agriculture and soil management
- Biochar Risk Assessment Framework (BRAF)
- Biochar: Socio-economic and biophysical “fit”
- MSc / BSc Module: Novel Strategies for Soil Carbon Storage
- NEWS India-UK network
- Participative distributed innovation processes and biochar: Carbon reduction, sustainable agriculture and soil management
Publications:
Iliffe R 2009. Is the biochar produced by an Anila stove likely to be a beneficial soil additive?. MSc Diss. UKBRC Working Paper 4
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
Jeffery, S., Bezemer, T.M., Cornellisen, G., Kuyper, T.W. Lehmann, J., Mommer, L., Sohi, S.P., Van De Voorde, T.F.J., Wardle, D.A., Van Groenigen, J.W. (2013) The way forward in biochar research: targeting trade-offs between the potential wins. GCB Bioenergy 7:1161–1175
Ibarrola R., Evar B., Reay D. - Biochar commercialisation in Mexico. 24pp.
Sohi, S.P. (2012) Carbon storage with benefits, Science, 338: 1034-1035
Carter, S. and Shackley, S. (2012) Biochar: Biomass energy, agriculture and carbon sequestration, Boiling Point 60:42-45.
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, S., Carter, S., Knowles, T., Middelink, E., Haefele, S., Haszeldine, S. (2012), Sustainable gasification-biochar systems? A case-study of rice-husk gasification in Cambodia, Part II: Field trial results, carbon abatement, economic assessment and conclusions, Energy Policy, 41:618-623
Sarah Carter and Simon Shackley (2011), Biochar Stoves: An Innovation Studies Perspective (AIT & IDRC-CRDI).
Oliver, I., Cross, A., Searl, A., Shackley, S., Smith, C., Sohi, S. The State of Scotland's Soil: Emerging Issues, SEPA, 2011
Karve P, Shackley S, Carter S, Anderson P, Prabunhe R, Cross A, Haszeldine S, Haefele S, Knowles T, Field J, Tanger P (2011), Biochar for Carbon Reduction, Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Management (BIOCHARM). A Report for the APN (Asia Pacific Network for Climate Change Research).
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
Harnessing green tide Ulva biomass for carbon dioxide sequestration. Park, Jihae; Lee, Hojun; De saeger, Jonas et al.
In: Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/Technology, 02.09.2024.