The Role of Biochar in Soil Remediation Processes

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental and Green Processes".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 April 2024) | Viewed by 10420

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Soil and Water Conservation, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung 91201, Taiwan
Interests: pedogenesis; soil remediation; biogeochemistry; soil erosion control

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Biochar application for soil remediation such as pollution of organic/inorganic pollutants and even non-point source pollution of sediments and nutrients in watersheds have been attracting great interest in the last decade. Moreover, biochar has proved to be effective in improving soil properties and increasing crop biomass. The use of biochar facilitates nutrient availability; enhances microbial activity, soil organic matter availability, and water holding; and enhances crop production of soils. Regarding pollution control, biochars have excellent potential to adsorb the contaminants from soil solution and make them unavailable to organisms. It has also been suggested that it can even enhance crop resistance to disease. Biochar is the charred organic matter formed under high heat and low oxygen conditions that occur in natural fires and modern pyrolysis systems. Biochars have various properties for the remediation of polluted soils and moderation of soil degradation, including high pH, negative charge, large surface area, and are rich in carbon and potassium, etc. Biochars have various properties for the remediation of polluted soils which include negative charge and large surface area. Various methods come under the biochar technique, including carbon sequestration, nutrient exchange, water holding, adsorption/absorption, and oxidation/reduction. However, the interaction mechanisms between soils and biochars during remediation processes depend on soil types and biochar types. Furthermore, the long-term and large-scale designs are still rare now. Apart from this, economic estimations and optimization should be taken into consideration for biochar application. Also, various other public health-related concerns associated with biochar use should be addressed properly in order to establish biochar as a best alternative to other soil remediation methods, in future.

This Special Issue on “The Role of Biochar in Soil Remediation Processes” seeks high-quality research and case studies focusing on the remediation efficiency and interaction mechanisms of biochars in polluted soils. Topics include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Removal of contamination and sustainable approaches to remediation
  • Remediation processes and technologies by biochar application
  • Novel methods of characterization, treatment, and monitoring

Prof. Dr. Shih-Hao Jien
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • biochar functions
  • sustainable soil
  • microbial activities
  • biodiversity
  • biogeochemistry processses
  • phytoremediation
  • carbon sequestration
  • nutrient release and exchange

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

9 pages, 1416 KiB  
Article
Effects of Forest Types on SOC and DOC in the Permafrost Region of the Daxing’anling Mountains
by Weiwei Du, Di Wang, Xiaodong Wu, Lin Zhao and Shuying Zang
Processes 2022, 10(7), 1293; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pr10071293 - 30 Jun 2022
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Abstract
There is a “symbiotic relationship” between permafrost and the forest ecosystem; the melted permafrost provides sufficient water for forest growth, and the forest ecosystem plays an important role in protecting the permafrost. Aiming to study the effects of different forest types on soil [...] Read more.
There is a “symbiotic relationship” between permafrost and the forest ecosystem; the melted permafrost provides sufficient water for forest growth, and the forest ecosystem plays an important role in protecting the permafrost. Aiming to study the effects of different forest types on soil organic carbon (SOC) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the permafrost region of the Daxing’anling Mountains, this research focuses on the soil of the three forest types of pinus sylvestris var. mongolica forest, larch forest, and birch forest in Beiji Village, Mohe County, Daxing’anling Region, and collected vertical profile soil samples from the three soil layers of 0–10, 10–20, and 20–30 cm at three different sites types (upslope, mesoslope, and downslope) in August 2017. The results show that the forest type is the main influencing factor for the content of SOC and DOC. The site type has a significant effect on the content of SOC and DOC in the three forest types, but the difference varies slightly (p > 0.05). The content of SOC and DOC is negatively correlated with the depth of the soil layer of the vertical profile. The geodetector data analysis shows that there are significant differences (p < 0.05) among the contents of SOC and DOC in the three forest types. In conclusion, this study contributes to an in-depth understanding of carbon storage, the carbon dynamics of SOC, and the effects of different forest types on carbon balance in permafrost regions, and it provides a scientific basis for the study of the carbon cycle mechanism in permafrost regions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Biochar in Soil Remediation Processes)
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14 pages, 2586 KiB  
Article
Growth Enhancement of Camellia sinensis with Biochar
by Herta Novalina Sipayung, Keng-Tung Wu, De-Yu Liu and Chien-Teh Chen
Processes 2022, 10(2), 199; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pr10020199 - 21 Jan 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2168
Abstract
Biochar application in the agriculture sector is a practical approach to minimize waste and maintain sustainable farming. However, the information regarding biochar application in tea cultivation is limited and especially rare in field research. In this study, a two-year biochar experiment was conducted [...] Read more.
Biochar application in the agriculture sector is a practical approach to minimize waste and maintain sustainable farming. However, the information regarding biochar application in tea cultivation is limited and especially rare in field research. In this study, a two-year biochar experiment was conducted in a tea yard subject to tea yield and soil characteristics. According to tea growth, the tea yard for the experiment was divided into weak and normal sectors. Biochar was made from tea processing waste, mainly the twigs. The results showed that biochar application increased tea production by 2.3- and 1.3-fold in the weak and normal sectors, respectively, suggesting that converting tea waste to biochar for soil amendment is beneficial to increasing tea production, particularly in the weak sector. The regression analysis on tea production and soil characteristics revealed that only soil electric conductivity (R2 = 0.6597), soil organic matter (R2 = 0.7024), and soil extractable phosphate (R2 = 0.6547) were positively correlated with tea yield. Therefore, the field experiment of this study improves the understanding of biochar’s agronomic and environmental benefits on plant productivity and soil health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Biochar in Soil Remediation Processes)
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16 pages, 6234 KiB  
Article
Effects of Biochar on Soil Aggregation and Distribution of Organic Carbon Fractions in Aggregates
by Ming-Hsi Lee, Ed-Haun Chang, Chia-Hsing Lee, Jyun-Yuan Chen and Shih-Hao Jien
Processes 2021, 9(8), 1431; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pr9081431 - 19 Aug 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3236
Abstract
Soil aggregates are among crucial factors for determining both the quality and erosion resistance of soils. Biochar is a soil amendment that has seen increasing use to improve specific soil properties, mainly the physical structure and the preserving capacity of water and nutrients, [...] Read more.
Soil aggregates are among crucial factors for determining both the quality and erosion resistance of soils. Biochar is a soil amendment that has seen increasing use to improve specific soil properties, mainly the physical structure and the preserving capacity of water and nutrients, as well as sequestration of soil organic carbon. In this study, we applied the rice husk biochar (RHB) and cattle manure compost (COM) in a sandy loam rural soil, which is widely distributed in southern Taiwan, to investigate the combined effects of the biochar and compost on soil aggregation and dynamic change of organic carbon fractions. Through our incubation experiment, both biochar and compost could promote the soil aggregation after eight weeks incubation. The total amounts of macroaggregates (MaAs, >2.0 mm) and mesoaggregates (MeAs, 0.25–2.0 mm) increased by 1.3–9%. During aggregation processes, a considerably greater amount of the soil organic carbon was found to enrich mainly in MaAs and MeAs in all treatments. The COM addition in the soil further promotes organic carbon enrichment in microaggregates (MiAs, <0.25 mm) + fine particles and MeAs after incubation. Increasing labile organic C (LOC) fractions were significantly found in MaAs and MeAs during aggregation processes, whereas decreasing LOC fractions were found in MiAs. The input of fresh organic matter (RHB and COM) initial acts as binding agents in MiAs, and then further enhances the formation of MeAs and MaAs gradually. In conclusion, RHB promotes the physical protection of organic C by increasing soil aggregation and is hence a management option to enhance the C sequestration potential. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Biochar in Soil Remediation Processes)
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