Schlagwort: biochar

Peer-reviewed Publications

Gholamahmadi & Kammann (2026): Biochar for durable carbon removal: soil erosion reduction as a key mechanism

Behrouz Gholamahmadi and Claudia Kammann, IN: Biochar, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bmf.2026.100020

Soil erosion is a major pathway of physical soil organic carbon (SOC) loss and a critical threat to the permanence of land-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR). Biochar is widely recognised as a durable carbon sink, yet its hydrological effects and erosion-mitigation potential remain undervalued in CDR frameworks. Here the authors synthesise global evidence and long-term Mediterranean experiments to show that hydrological improvements—an enhanced soil sponge function—are not ancillary co-benefits but a core mechanism supporting carbon durability.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Rhymes et al. (2026): Harnessing peatland rewetting for effective biochar-based carbon dioxide removal

Jennifer M. Rhymes, Niall P. McNamara, Davey L. Jones, Fabrizio Albanito and Chris D. Evans, IN: Carbon Management, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42773-025-00524-5

Biochar is widely recognised as a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technology, but its stability depends on feedstock, pyrolysis conditions, and the soil environment. Current CDR schemes prioritise highly stable biochars to ensure long-term permanence, requiring high pyrolysis temperatures that reduce carbon yield and intensify competition for biomass. This perspective explores potential synergies between two distinct CDR approaches, biochar application and peatland rewetting, where rewetted peatlands could enhance biochar permanence by suppressing microbial decomposition, offering a means to improve both carbon retention and resource efficiency.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Cheng et al. (2026): Life cycle assessment of bamboo residue management pathways: Biochar and alternatives for carbon sequestration and circular economy

Hsiang-Wei Cheng, Sébastien Bonnet and Shabbir H. Gheewala, IN: Sustainable Production and Consumption, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2026.01.004

The increasing utilization of bamboo as a sustainable resource has driven the rapid expansion of bamboo-based industries, resulting in significant residue generation that is often managed unsustainably through open burning. This study presents a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of four management scenarios: open burning (baseline), biochar-to-soil, biomass-to-energy, and pellet-to-energy based on a functional unit of 1000 t of bamboo residue treated.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Perumalsamy et al. (2025): Materials-Based Approach for Enhanced Soil Carbon (C) Sequestration

Vibin Perumalsamy, Muhammad Ibrar Ahmed, Zhihao Lei, Ehsan Tavakkoli, Edward D. Burton, Nanthi Bolan, Ajayan Vinu and Jiabao Yi, IN: Small, https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202510943

This review highlights recent advances in the use of nanostructured and natural nanoclay materials for soil carbon management. It outlines the importance of soil organic carbon (SOC), key challenges in SOC flux, the mechanisms of sequestration, and the societal implications of implementing these materials, providing groundwork for future research in this critical area.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Xu et al. (2025): Microbial-driven iron transformation and carbon stabilisation in flooded soils: roles of biochar and rock weathering

Qiao Xu, Gefeng Zhang, Feifan Zhang, Tharanga Bandara, Hongyan Guo, Meiling Xu and Caixian Tang, IN: Plant and Soil, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-025-08168-x

The escalating climate crisis demands innovative carbon dioxide removal strategies, with biochar and enhanced rock weathering (ERW) emerging as promising carbon-negative solutions. However, their contrasting effects on iron (Fe) (hydr)oxide–organic carbon (OC) interactions, a key mechanism underlying mineral-mediated C persistence, remain poorly understood.

A pot experiment examined the effects of biochar and enhanced basalt weathering alone and in combination on Fe oxide phases, C-binding capacity, Fe-complexed OC characteristics, and shifts in Fe-oxidising and reducing microbial communities via 16S rRNA sequencing in a paddy soil.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Maslouski et al. (2025): Long-term carbon dioxide removal potential from the application of wood biochar and basanite rock powder in sandy soil using the LiDELSv2 process-based modeling approach

Mikita Maslouski, Maria Ansari, Susanne E Hamburger, Johannes Meyer zu Drewer, Nikolas Hagemann, Annette Eschenbach, Christian Beer, Joscha N Becker, Claudia I Kammann, Maria-Elena Vorrath and Philipp Porada, IN: Environmental Research Letters, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae21f6

The rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations requires scalable and effective carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategies. pyrogenic carbon capture and storage relies on the pyrolysis of biomass and the non-oxidative use of biochar, e.g. in soils. Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) captures CO₂ by forming dissolved bicarbonate. In addition to CDR, both methods may offer soil improvement as a co-benefit. However, their interaction and combined CDR potential remain largely unexplored. Here, the authors investigate their individual and combined effects on carbon dynamics in a temperate agricultural soil. Using the process-based LiDELSv2 model calibrated against data from the lysimeter experiment, they simulate 1000 year impacts of applying 4.2 wt% wood biochar, 2 wt% basanite rock powder (RP), their co-application, and co-pyrolyzed material (rock-enhanced biochar, RE-biochar) on soil organic carbon (SOC), net primary production (NPP), net CO₂ ecosystem exchange (NEE), and calcium (Ca²⁺) leaching in a northern German sandy soil.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Maslouski et al. (2025): Long-term carbon dioxide removal potential from the application of wood biochar and basanite rock powder in sandy soil using the LiDELSv2 process-based modeling approach

Mikita Maslouski, Maria Ansari, Susanne E Hamburger, Johannes Meyer zu Drewer, Nikolas Hagemann, Annette Eschenbach, Christian Beer, Joscha N Becker, Claudia I Kammann, Maria-Elena Vorrath and Philipp Porada, IN: Environmental Research Letters, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae21f6

The rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations requires scalable and effective carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategies. pyrogenic carbon capture and storage relies on the pyrolysis of biomass and the non-oxidative use of biochar, e.g. in soils. Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) captures CO₂ by forming dissolved bicarbonate. In addition to CDR, both methods may offer soil improvement as a co-benefit. However, their interaction and combined CDR potential remain largely unexplored. Here, the authors investigate their individual and combined effects on carbon dynamics in a temperate agricultural soil.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Syaranamual et al. (2025): Influence of biochar, compost, and their combination on carbon mineralisation and the priming effect in low-carbon soil: an incubation experiment

Siska Syaranamual, Bahareh Bicharanloo, Shamim Mia & Feike A. Dijkstra, IN: Carbon Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/s44378-025-00139-z

Integrating biochar and compost into soils can enhance both carbon (C) sequestration and soil fertility. However, their combined effects on C mineralisation and priming in C-poor soils are not well understood. To address this gap, the authors conducted a 120-day laboratory incubation study. They applied biochar (2%) and compost (2%) individually and in combination (1% each) to a soil with low organic C content (0.12%).

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Han et al. (2025): Biochar-driven soil carbon sequestration: priming effects and emission reduction

Wei Han, Yujian Lai and Hongbing Ji, IN: Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2025/em/d5em00500k/unauth

This review critically analyzes the key mechanisms through which biochar stabilizes soil organic carbon, in accordance with the bidirectionality of priming effects.

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Peer-reviewed Publications

Chiaramonti et al. (2025): Is soil sampling appropriate for quantitative carbon accounting for biochar? An experimental investigation to assess soil carbon accumulation

David Chiaramonti, Giulia Lotti, Francesca Tozzi, David Casini, Francesco Primo Vaccari, Hamed Sanei, Michaela Luconi and Marco Buffi, IN: Biomass and Bioenergy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2025.108537

Biochar, a major CDR method with significant co-benefits to agriculture, is listed as a sustainable agricultural method for SCA in sustainable biofuel regulations. In Europe, this is accounted via the esca factor (REDII-IR), while at international level this is considered through the Fsca factor. Fsca is analogous to esca in REDII, with similar, even if not identical, requirements (ICAO, for SAF). RED-II requires soil sampling to quantitatively assess the SCA from biochar addition: instead, ICAO CORSIA, as well as the draft incoming EU-CRCF (for voluntary carbon removals), require full characterization of biochar, incorporation in soil and third-party auditing during deployment (ICAO), but not necessarily soil sampling. This study presents experimental evidence evaluating the adequacy of current soil sampling protocols for the quantitative accounting of carbon saving/removals from biochar application to soil.

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