Tag: biochar

Matthieu Mesnage, Rachelle Omnée, Johan Colin, Hamidreza Ramezani, Jena Jeong, Encarnacion Raymundo-Piñero IN: Cement and Concrete Composites 157, 105932, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2025.105932

Carbonation is a natural process in concrete where atmospheric CO₂ diffuses into the pores of the material and reacts with cement hydrates to form calcium carbonate. Although this process can help to sequester atmospheric CO₂ and mitigate rising levels in urban areas, it slows down over time, resulting in low CO₂ uptake over the service life of concrete. This study proposes a sustainable method to improve carbonation kinetics and CO₂ capture in cement materials by incorporating highly porous biochar.

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Hamed Sanei, Henrik Ingermann Petersen, David Chiaramonti, Ondrej Masek IN: Biochar, 7, ttps://doi.org/10.1007/s42773-024-00408-0

Accurate estimation of biochar carbon permanence is essential for assessing its effectiveness as a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategy. The widely adopted framework, based on the two-pool carbon exponential decay model, forms the basis of policy guidelines and national CDR accounting. However, teh authors re-analysis of the meta-data used in this model reveals significant deficiencies in its parameterization, leading to two critical issues.

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Xiaomai Yuan, Guichen Ban, Yibao Luo, Jinrong Wang, Dingjiao Peng, Run Liang, Tieguang He, Ziting Wang IN: Soil and Tillage Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2024.106365

Biochar offers environmental benefits, such as enhanced soil aggregation and carbon sequestration. However, its effect on soil aggregation and organic carbon and nitrogen sequestration across soil textures remains unclear. In this systematic review, the results of 534 experiments reported in 100 peer-reviewed articles were analyzed. 

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Jiang Huang, Xiao Tan, Imran Ali, Yue Xie, Zhipeng Duan IN: Journal of Cleaner Production 484, 144373, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.144373

The global natural disaster caused by the green tide of Ulva prolifera (U. prolifera) has had significant impacts on marine ecological balance and human activities. Pyrolysis, a green technology, can convert U. prolifera into carbon-rich biochar, has the potential to achieve “green tide management” and “dual carbon target” simultaneously. However, the variability of U. prolifera components in environment poses a challenge to this win-win strategy. Therefore, this study is based on U. prolifera, de-ashed U. prolifera, and its main component model compounds (fucoidan, cellulose, and protein) to explore the effect of biomass internal components on pyrolysis behavior and carbon sequestration potential of biochar.

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Seth Kane, Ahmad Bin Thaneya, Aysegul Petek Gursel, Jin Fan, Baishakhi Bose, Thomas P Hendrickson, Sarah L Nordahl, Corinne D Scown, Sabbie A Miller and Arpad Horvath IN: Environmental Research Letters, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad99e9

A quantitative and systematic assessment of uncertainty in life-cycle assessment is critical to informing sustainable development of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies. Biochar is the most commonly sold form of CDR to date, and it can be used in applications ranging from concrete to agricultural soil amendments. Previous analyses of biochar rely on modeled or estimated life-cycle data and suggest a cradle-to-gate range of 0.20–1.3 kg CO2 net removal per kg of biomass feedstock, driven by differences in energy consumption, pyrolysis temperature, and feedstock sourcing. Herein, the authors quantify the distribution of CDR possible for biochar production with a compositional life-cycle inventory model paired with scenario-aware Monte Carlo simulation in a “best practice” (incorporating lower transportation distances, high pyrolysis temperatures, high energy efficiency, recapture of energy for drying and pyrolysis energy requirements, and co-generation of heat and electricity) and “poor practice” (higher transportation distances, lower pyrolysis temperatures, low energy efficiency, natural gas for energy requirements, and no energy recovery) scenarios.

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Jiabin Wei, Youqing Li, Juan Li, Wei Yan, Qi Yin, Hongwei Jiang, Zongling Li, Jinyu Jiang, Yu Li, Yu Yao, Lang Zhang IN: Scientific Reports 14, 30122, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-81232-1

The enhancement of soil aggregate size and stability is crucial for mitigating climate change and improving carbon sequestration in forest ecosystems. Biochar, derived from rice husks, has been suggested as an effective mean to increase soil carbon storage. However, isolating biochar’s specific effects on soil aggregate formation and carbon sink capacity can be complex due to the overlapping influences of fertilization and understory vegetation cultivation. In this study these variables were circumvented by incorporating different amounts of biochar into plantation soil without any additional cultivation or fertilization, conducting a detailed two–year field experiment. 

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Xiaomai Yuan, Guichen Ban, Yibao Luo, Jinrong Wang, Dingjiao Peng, Run Liang, Tieguang He, Ziting Wang IN: Soil and Tillage Research, 247, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2024.106365

Biochar offers environmental benefits, such as enhanced soil aggregation and carbon sequestration. However, its effect on soil aggregation and organic carbon and nitrogen sequestration across soil textures remains unclear. In this systematic review, the results of 534 experiments reported in 100 peer-reviewed articles were analyzed.

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Liying Song, Hu Cheng, Cuiying Liu, Rongting Ji, Shi Yao, Huihui Cao, Yi Li, Yongrong Bian, Xin Jiang, Irmina Ćwieląg-Piasecka, Yang Song IN: Biochar, 6, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42773-024-00372-9

Low-cost and green preparation of efficient sorbents is critical to the removal of organic contaminants during water treatment. In this study, the co-pyrolysis of macroalgae and oyster shell was designed to synthesize nitrogen-doped porous biochars for sorption removal of atrazine from water.

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Honghai Wan, Xinxi Fu, Yonghua Chen, Lizhen Zhao, Tingting Wang, Yuancen Liu IN: Separation and Purification Technology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2024.130795

Three-dimensional (3D) evaporators are regarded as a promising solution to the global water crisis due to their extensive evaporation surface area and minimal diffuse reflection. Nevertheless, the limited water supply capacity of 3D evaporators may greatly hinder their highly efficient evaporation and widespread application. In this study, we designed and developed a biochar-based hydrogel 3D evaporator with vertically aligned channels (CAM), composed of rice straw-derived carbon, hydrogel, and sodium alginate. The material combination and vertical structure endow the CAM with high light-absorbing capacity (∼100 %), exceptional photothermal conversion efficiency (126.08 %), rapid water transport, and efficient evaporation (1.88 kg·m^-2h^-1, 1KW/m²).

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