Biochar: climate saving soils

Newsletter 11 – Final policy statement

A publication of the Interreg IVB project Biochar: climate saving soils

www.biochar-interreg4b.eu

Frans Debets June 2014

Province of Groningen, the Netherlands

Newsletter 11 (June 2014)

BIOCHAR climate saving soils

The project Biochar: climate saving soils is a project which is funded

by the Interreg IVB North Sea Region Programme.

In this series of newsletters the partners from 7 different countries

around the North Sea share their knowledge about standards,

production, application and environmental impact of biochar.

All of our newsletters can be downloaded from the Biochar: climate

savings soils website: www.biochar-interreg4b.eu.

F. Debets

Project leader

About the newsletter

This newsletter is a product of the Interreg IVB project Biochar: climate saving soils. Although the production of this newsletter has been done with utmost care, the project management is not responsible for, and expressly disclaims all liability for, damages of any kind arising out of use, reference to, or reliance on any information from this newsletter. The authors express their own view and they do not necessarily reflect the views of the project management or the other project partners. No guarantee is given that the information provided in this newsletter is correct, complete, and up-to-date.

Written by

Frans Debets

The end of the project is a new start

The Interreg IVB project Biochar: climate saving soils has ended its

activities at the end of March 2014. One of the main products of the

Biochar: climate saving soils project has been a manuscript of a book on

biochar. This manuscript is now nearly ready and will see print later this

year. In the near future the project partners from the seven North Sea

Region countries will continue their research activities on several

interesting topics within the field of biochar. Over the course of the

project much has been learned and discovered about biochar, but as

always, with new knowledge new questions also arise. There is still so

much more to be learned and discovered about this intriguing material.

Working together in the Interreg IVB programme gave all the partners

the opportunity to meet colleagues from all over Europe. It is not always

easy to follow the planning and the strict rules of the Interreg

programme, but the partners have delivered what they could and

inspired their teams to top performances in their research.

The extensive network that has been developed and the hundreds of

readers of the newsletters indicate that the dissemination of the results

of this project was successful and supported the growth of the European

biochar society.

The project website will remain active until 2016. The European Biochar

Foundation will continue to develop.

The project management thanks all partners and stakeholders and the

team at the Interreg IVB Secretariat in Viborg for their loyal efforts and

true friendship. Biochar has a lot to offer, let us continue to unravel its

secrets and explore the opportunities it creates.

Frans Debets

Project leader

Partners:

The Final Statement

Over the last four and a half years the Interreg IVB North Sea Region project Biochar: climate saving

soils enabled 11 partners from 7 countries to do research and experiments on various subjects in the

field of biochar research, on the production and application of biochar and perhaps most importantly

to share their experiences and knowledge with their national and international networks.

The Biochar: climate saving soils project came to an end in March 2014, but the dynamic world-wide

developments within the field of biochar will of course continue. The consortium partners will

continue to participate in the research, development and deployment community and will continue

to help develop the knowledge base of biochar technology. The knowledge they have gained within

the Biochar: climate saving soils project will no doubt prove very valuable.

The consortium of 11 partners would like make a short statement containing a summary of the

insights into the field of biochar that were obtained within the Biochar: climate saving soils project

and would like to formulate some policy statements, based upon those insights.

Statement

Biochar application to soils is an effective method for long-term carbon sequestration, though

consensus on a methodology for measuring carbon stability remains to be reached.

The initial characteristics of biochar are strongly dependent on feedstock and production method.

The effects of biochar on soil depend on the soil environment to which biochar is introduced. This is

owing to interactions with the native chemistry and biology of the soil (pH, clay, organic matter and

microorganisms). Different biochar types can thus have different effects over different timeframes.

Despite earlier publications showing improved soil quality and crop yield after biochar application,

the Biochar: climate saving soils consortium has not found convincing evidence that direct addition of

biochar to North Western European soils will, as a standard agricultural method, substantially

improve soil quality and crop production in the short-term.

A large proportion of biochar acts as an inert substance. Biochar does therefore not perform the

same functions as soil organic matter

Some effects are promising, for instance on the water holding capacity. Biochar application to sandy

or degraded soils will improve the water retention characteristics of the soil as a long-lasting or even

cumulative effect, as more roots at greater depth will increase the organic matter content of subsoil

incrementally, year after year. Not all biochar types tested seemed to improve water holding

capacity. The biochar type and dose to be applied very much depends on the soil type and other

local climatic conditions.

In transition towards a viable carbon storage technology, economic uses of small-dose products must

be considered. This involves using biochar as a mixture with other organic and inorganic materials,

such as synthetic NPK, ash, clay, manure, compost, and so on (known collectively as ‘biochar

compound fertilizers or BCFs). Additional value of biochar can be obtained by chemical modification

of its properties that dramatically enhances its sorption of pesticides, P and nitrate. Such modified

biochar could be used as part of new and innovative mitigation strategies that are urgently needed

for protection of water resources from pesticide pollution and eutrophication.

The aim is to apply biochar in a targeted fashion to where it is more effective in the soil-plant context

and in smaller quantities than considered 5 years ago (e.g. 100’s kgs per ha up to a few tonnes per

ha, in contrast to the 10 – 50 t/ha application regimes of ‘pure’ biochar that was the conventional

thinking in 2009.

Biochar has potential to decrease N2O emissions after fertilizer application. Further investigation on

other uses for reducing gaseous nitrogen losses are worth investigation, e.g. to manage NH3

emissions from slurry storage and composting. Using biochar in phosphate recovery and soil re-use

will be an important opportunity, contributing to the circular economy.

Whether used as a soil conditioner or fertilizer, biochar should be guaranteed clean and safe. This

can be provided by legislation and/or certification. The feedstock and production method that

determine the positive characteristics of the biochar, similarly influence its safety. Certification

initiatives that seek thresholds to protect safety and soil pollution have been initiated. The European

Biochar Certificate (EBC) is a voluntary scheme (compulsory in Switzerland) that has already been

adopted by a number of European companies to provide their assurance. The International Biochar

Initiative published comparable guidance in 2013 and offers certification too, in the USA.

Sustained research and international activity is needed to extend the knowledge of biochar and its

use both in the short and long-term. Rather than large scale applications, the near-term

opportunities for biochar deployment exist in tackling very specific problems with therefor designed

biochars such as in its use as a peat substitute, in composting and manure storage and treatment and

increasing the water holding capacity of sandy soils. Also biochar use in cascades with multiple

effects, e.g. applying biochar to anaerobic digestion processes and then use digestate as fertilizer, is

promising and shall be investigated further in the future.

Short impression of the last meeting:

The presentations can be found on the website www.biochar-interreg4b.eu