Advanced Techniques to Evaluate the Long-Term Stability and Carbon Sequestration Potential of Different Types of Biochar - Surface Properties (1/3), 2013

Biochar is emerging as one of the most promising tools to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and permanently sequester carbon (C) in soils. Biochar is identified as a climate measurement with a great potential, both internationally and in Norway. In spite of this, this efficient CO2-technology has not been in use in a great extent today. The overall objective of this project was to investigate the relationship between pyrolysis conditions, type of feedstock and biochar stability, and to combine advanced techniques for evaluation proxies of the long-term stability of biochar in soils. The evolution of biochar chemical structures in soils was monitored through black-carbon specific benzenepolycarboxylic acid biomarkers (BPCA) and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). These BPCA- and NMR- methods was used to calibrate a high throughput mid-infrared spectroscopy method (MIR) for frequent monitoring of a large number of incubated samples. The physical structure of biochar was monitored with scanning electron microscopy. These advanced proxies were combined with ecotoxicological tests and energy yield investigations to determine optimum pyrolysis conditions for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions with environmentally-safe biochar. The study consists of three datasets. This file includes data from dataset 1/3 - Surface properties.