UK Biochar Research Centre, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Crew Building, Alexander Crum Brown Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FF, UK.
Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, High School Yards, Infirmary Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1LZ, UK.
Sci Rep. 2019 Apr 2;9(1):5514. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-41953-0.
Negative emissions technologies offer an important tool to limit the global warming to <2 °C. Biochar is one of only a few such technologies, and the one at highest technology readiness level. Here we show that potassium as a low-concentration additive in biochar production can increase biochar's carbon sequestration potential; by up to 45% in this study. This translates to an increase in the estimated global biochar carbon sequestration potential to over 2.6 Gt CO-C(eq) yr, thus boosting the efficiency of utilisation of limited biomass and land resources, and considerably improving the economics of biochar production and atmospheric carbon sequestration. In addition, potassium doping also increases plant nutrient content of resulting biochar, making it better suited for agricultural applications. Yet, more importantly, due to its much higher carbon sequestration potential, AM-enriched biochar facilitates viable biochar deployment for carbon sequestration purposes with reduced need to rely on biochar's abilities to improve soil properties and crop yields, hence opening new potential areas and scenarios for biochar applications.
负排放技术为将全球变暖限制在<2°C 提供了重要工具。生物炭是为数不多的此类技术之一，也是技术准备程度最高的技术之一。在这里，我们表明，在生物炭生产中添加低浓度的钾可以提高生物炭的碳固存潜力；在本研究中最高可达 45%。这意味着估计的全球生物炭碳封存潜力增加到超过 2.6 Gt CO-C(eq) yr，从而提高了有限生物质和土地资源的利用效率，并大大改善了生物炭生产和大气碳封存的经济性。此外，钾掺杂还增加了生物炭中植物养分的含量，使其更适合农业应用。然而，更重要的是，由于其更高的碳封存潜力，AM 富集生物炭为生物炭的碳封存目的提供了可行的部署，减少了对生物炭改善土壤特性和提高作物产量能力的依赖，从而为生物炭的应用开辟了新的潜在领域和场景。
