Biochar is the carbon-rich product which occurs when biomass (such as wood, manure or crop residues) is heated in a closed container with little or no available air. It can be used to improve agriculture and the environment in several ways, and its persistence in soil and nutrient-retention properties make it an ideal soil amendment to increase crop yields. In addition to this, biochar sequestration, in combination with sustainable biomass production, can be carbon-negative and therefore used to actively remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, with potentially major implications for mitigation of climate change. Biochar production can also be combined with bioenergy production through the use of the gases that are given off in the pyrolysis process.
The first edition of this book, published in 2009, was the definitive work reviewing the expanding research literature on this topic. Since then, the rate of research activity has increased at least ten-fold, and biochar products are now commercially available as soil amendments. This second edition includes not only substantially updated chapters, but also additional chapters: on environmental risk assessment; on new uses of biochar in composting and potting mixes; a new and controversial field of studying the effects of biochar on soil carbon cycles; on traditional use with very recent discoveries that biochar was used not only in the Amazon but also in Africa and Asia; on changes in water availability and soil water dynamics; and on sustainability and certification. The book therefore continues to represent the most comprehensive compilation of current knowledge on all aspects of biochar. 1. Biochar for Environmental Management: An Introduction ; Johannes Lehmann and Stephen Joseph ; 2. Traditional Use of Biochar ; Katja Wiedner and Bruno Glaser ; 3. Fundamentals of Biochar Production ; Robert Brown, Bernardo del Campo, Akwasi A. Boateng, Manuel Garcia-Perez and Ondřej Mašek ; 4. Biochar Production Technology ; Akwasi A. Boateng, Manuel Garcia-Perez, Ondřej Mašek, Robert Brown and Bernardo del Campo ; 5. Characteristics of Biochar: Physical and Structural Properties ; Chee H. Chia, Adriana Downie and Paul Munroe ; 6. Characteristics of Biochar: Macro-molecular Properties ; Markus Kleber, William Hockaday and Peter S. Nico ; 7. Biochar Elemental Composition and Factors Influencing Nutrient Retention ; James A. Ippolito, Kurt A. Spokas, Jeffrey. M. Novak, Rick. D. Lentz and Keri B. Cantrell ; 8. A Biochar Classification System and Associated Test Methods ; Marta Camps-Arbestain, James E. Amonette, Balwant Singh, Tao Wang and Hans Peter Schmidt ; 9. Evolution of Biochar Properties in Soil ; Joseph J. Pignatello, Minori Uchimiya, Samuel Abiven and Michael W.I. Schmidt ; 10. Persistence of Biochar in Soil ; Johannes Lehmann, Samuel Abiven, Markus Kleber, Genxing Pan, BP Singh, Saran Sohi and Andy Zimmerman ; 11. Movement of Biochar in the Environment ; Cornelia Rumpel, Jens Leifeld, Cristina Santin and Stefan Doerr ; 12. Biochar Effects on Crop Yield ; Simon Jeffery, Diego Abalos, Kurt Spokas and Frank G.A. Verheijen ; 13. Biochar Effects on the Abundance, Activity and Diversity of the Soil Biota ; Janice E. Thies, Matthias C. Rillig and Ellen R. Graber ; 14. Biochar Effects on Plant Ecophysiology ; Claudia Kammann and Ellen Graber ; 15. Biochar Effects on Soil Nutrient Transformations ; Thomas H. DeLuca, Michael J.Gundale, M. Derek MacKenzie and Davey L. Jones ; 16. Priming Effects in Biochar-amended Soils: Implications of Biochar-soil Organic Matter Interactions for Carbon Storage ; Thea Whitman, Bhupinder Pal Singh and Andrew Zimmerman ; 17. Biochar Effects on Nitrous Oxide and Methane Emissions from Soil ; Lukas Van Zwieten, Claudia Kammann, MariaLuz Cayuela, Bhupinder Pal Singh, Stephen Joseph, Stephen Kimber, Scott Donne, Tim Clough and Kurt Spokas ; 18. Biochar Effects on Nutrient Leaching ; David Laird and Natalia Rogovska ; 19. Biochar Effects on Soil Hydrology ; Caroline A. Masiello, Brandon Dugan, Catherine E. Brewer, Kurt Spokas, Jeffrey M. Novak, Zuolin Liu and Giovambattista Sorrenti ; 20. Biochar and Heavy Metals ; Luke Beesley, Eduardo Moreno, Guido Fellet, Leonidas Carrijo and Tom Sizmur ; 21. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Polychlorinated Aromatic Compounds in Biochar ; Thomas D. Bucheli, Isabel Hilber and Hans-Peter Schmidt ; 22. Sorption and Remediation of Organic Compounds in Soils and Sediments by (Activated) Biochar ; Sarah E. Hale, Gerard Cornelissen and David Werner ; 23. Biochar and Retention/Efficacy of Pesticides ; Ellen R. Graber and Rai Kookana ; 24. Test Procedures for Biochar Analysis in Soils ; Michael Bird ; 25. Biochar as an Additive to Compost and Growing Media ; Christoph Steiner, Miguel A. Sánchez-Monedero and Claudia Kammann ; 26. Biochar Systems and System Fit ; Saran Sohi, John McDonagh, Jeff Novak, Weixiang Wu and Luciana-Maria Miu ; 27. Biochar, Carbon Accounting and Climate Change ; Annette Cowie, Dominic Woolf, John Gaunt, Miguel Brandão and Ruy Anaya de la Rosa ; 28. Biochar Sustainability and Certification ; Frank G.A. Verheijen, Ana Catarina Bastos, Hans Peter Schmidt, Miguel Brandão and Simon Jeffery ; 29. Economic Evaluation of Biochar Systems: Current Evidence and Challenges ; Simon Shackley, Abbie Clare, Stephen Joseph, Bruce McCarl and Hans-Peter Schmidt ; 30. Socio-economic Feasibility, Implementation and Evaluation of Small Scale Biochar Projects ; Stephen Joseph, Mai Lan Anh, Abbie Clare and Simon Shackley ; 31. Commercialization of the Biochar Industry ; Michael Sesko, David Shearer and Gregory Stangl Bodenfruchtbarkeit ; Bodenökologie ; Holzkohle ; Pflanzenkohle ; Biomasseproduktion ; Umweltbezogenes Management ; Umweltschutz ; Aufsatzsammlung
