Climate change in the North Sea Region is predicted to have a pronounced effect on annual rainfall patterns. Prolonged periods of severe droughts or heavy rains will impact the sustainability of farming and will also have significant effects on the fertility of soils. In general, traditional agricultural soil application of crop residues is rapidly degraded by soil micro-organisms and released as CO2. Thermal conversion of the same residues through pyrolysis rapidly transforms it into a more non-degradable sometimes almost inert biomass – named biochar. Thus, application of biochar into soils is also a Carbon Capture and Soil Storage (CCSS) strategy. When biochar remains stable in soils it makes soils more resilient to the effects of climate change, especially the effects of weather extremes.
Biochar can lower the carbon content of the atmosphere, and in addition off-set greenhouse gas emissions (through use of the energy by-products) and the beneficial indirect impacts of biochar incorporated into the soil. The EU-25 produces annually 215 Mtonne biomass residues and organic wastes. If this was converted into biochar and applied to soils, about 215 Mtonne CO2 annually could potentially be sequestered. The properties of biochar allow four of the EU’s key policies and strategies to be addressed at once:
- the climate change policy - reduction of CO2 in the atmosphere;
- the renewable energy policy - the biofuel or bioenergy production;
- the landfill directive - conversion of biomass waste into biochar and prevention of landfill methane emissions; and
- the soil strategy - prevention of soil degradation.
The project Biochar: climate saving soils has three clear targets:
- Establish a transnational biochar knowledge dissemination strategy for authorities, producers and end-users of biochar and public opinion for raising awareness and building confidence in biochar applications,
- Align and share knowledge and methodological standards on biochar feedstocks, logistics, production, biochar characterisation and environmental impact assessment, and
- Align and share knowledge and methodological standards on biochar applications for soil quality and fertility improvement, for soil remediation and stabilisation and for carbon capture and storage.
Locking carbon up in soil makes more sense than storing it in plants and trees that eventually decompose, argues Johannes Lehmann (From “A handful of carbon”, Nature(2007) 447, 143-144). But the question is, can this idea work on a large scale?
Biochar research is a rapidly emerging field. Research and practice-related questions remain about: safe levels of biochar applications to the soil; evaluation of carbon savings throughout biochar’s life-cycle; possible ecotoxicological effects when (polluted) feedstock’s are used; the mechanism(s) by which biochar has its impacts in the soil, its agronomic effects and its interaction with the soil microbial community; appropriate methods for applying biochar to soils; and appropriate and proportionate regulatory frameworks for controlling the use of bicohar.
All partners involved cooperating in aligning their knowledge and expertise conducting joint evaluations of the methodological standardization of biochar, biochar production and its applications. They will share their knowledge and agreed standards with governments, NGO’s and end-users of biochar through national and transnational biochar competence centres. These centres function as focal points for knowledge dissemination by facilitating e.g. workshops, conferences and field excursions. Relevant reports, documents and standard protocols will be published on a freely- accessible website.
Participants:
Thirteen partners from seven different countries around the North Sea are working together within this project.
The partners are:
Netherlands: Province Groningen (lead partner); Netherlands: Productschap Akkerbouw/Kiemkracht; Netherlands: Nutrient management Institute; Netherlands: Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR)-Alterra; Belgium: Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO); Belgium: University Gent; Germany: HAWK-Applied Univerisity, Gottingen; Germany: 3N-Klima Center Werlte, Niedersachen; Denmark: Risø DTU National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, Technical University of Denmark; Sweden: Uppsala University; Norway: Norwegian Institute for Agricultural Environmental Research (BioForsk); United Kingdom : Scottish Crop Research Institute and United Kingdom: University Edinburgh, (UKBRC, United Kingdom Biochar Research centre)
Role:
Risø DTU will participate like the rest of the partners in establishing national and transnational biochar competence centres including setting up a 50x50m macro plot in the field as a focal point for knowledge dissemination. However, the main activities will be conducted in the area of soil-biochar incubation studies measuring C and N dynamics as well as estimating biochar chemical characteristics developing advanced analytical chemistry methodologies.
Resources:
The EU INTERREG IVb North Sea Region Steering Group decided to support the BioChar: climate saving soils project initiative.
Duration:
The “BioChar: climate saving soils” project is funded to run from Oct. 2009 through to Oct. 2013.
Web page:
The biochar project has a webpage for further information at www.biochar-nsr.eu
Employees involved:
Per Ambus (stable isotopes and N20 Emissions), Liselotte Meltofte (soil analyses), Anja Nielsen (gas analyses), Henrik Hauggaard-Nielsen (soil N and C dynamics), Helge Egsgaard (analytical chemistry) and Hanne Wojtaszewski (Laboratory technician)
Student projects:
A dedicated program for exchange of master students practicing biochar research from the participating Universities will be developed.
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