Biochar engineered to enhance the potential performance of soil in the Mediterranean region of Turkey
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S. I. BIOCHAR
Biochar engineered to enhance the potential performance of soil in the Mediterranean region of Turkey Mazhar Rafique 1,2 & Hassan Javed Chaudhary 2 & Ibrahim A. M. Ahmed 1 & Alexandra Bykova 1 & Ibrahim Ortas 1 Received: 15 February 2019 / Accepted: 9 May 2019 / Published online: 15 June 2019 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2019
Abstract Biochar (BC) is a carbon-rich pyrolyzed material widely used in agriculture for soil amendment in order to enhance crop production and improve soil quality, carbon sequestration (C-sequestration), and mitigation of atmospheric C. Various functions of BC make it valuable; however, the heterogenic properties of BC raise questions regarding its suitability in a particular environment. The present study explored the heterogenic properties of BC with the aim of aligning its uses for soil and the environment. Different types of BC were prepared from feedstocks (FS) of sludge (S), animal waste (AW), and plants originating in the Mediterranean region. Physical and chemical characterization of BC was performed to evaluate its suitability for use in the Mediterranean region with regard to plant nutrient availability. To achieve this, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and proximate, ultimate, and nutrient analyses were performed. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was also undertaken, and the C-stability of BC was observed using thermogravimetric analysis. Plant FS–derived BC exhibits a high moisture content, volatile matrix, and fixed and total carbon (TC) compared with sludge biochar (SBC) and AW-derived BC. A high calcium carbonate (CaCO3) content was observed in AWderived BC. Furthermore, the porosity of BC revealed that soil microbes may be sustained inside the porous structure if used for soil amendment. The different FS-oriented BC studied here could potentially be used to amend soil. The AW-derived BC and plant FS– derived BC could be a good source of immediate nutrient release for plant growth in agriculture and C-sequestration, respectively. Keywords Biochar production . Plant-derived feedstocks . Pyrolyzing organic wastes . Carbon concentration . Carbon stability
Introduction The thermal decomposition of biomass in the presence of oxygen results in a black carbonaceous product recognized as biochar (BC). This final carbon-enriched product is produced by pyrolyzing organic wastes and feedstocks (FS) under anoxic conditions at 250–900 °C (Xie et al. 2015). The FS used for BC production are organic in nature such as animal manure (AM), i.e., chicken manure, cow manure, sheep and goat manure, poultry litter, etc., and plant-based material (wood biomass, agricultural and forestry residues) (Cantrell
This article is part of the Topical Collection on Implications of Biochar Application to Soil Environment under Arid Conditions * Ibrahim Ortas [email protected] 1
Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Faculty of Agriculture, Cukurova University, 01150 Adana, Turkey
2
Department of Plant Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University
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