Cited by 202Soil Carbon and Nitrogen DynamicsThermochemical Biomass Conversion ProcessesFire effects on ecosystems

Chars produced by slow pyrolysis and hydrothermal carbonization vary in carbon sequestration potential and greenhouse gases emissions

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Malghani, Saadatullah, Gleixner, Gerd, Trumbore, Susan E.·2013·Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Abstract

Bio-char, biomass that has been deliberately charred to slow its rate of decomposition, has been proposed as an amendment with the potential to sequester carbon and improve certain soil properties. Slow pyrolysis (temperature ≤500 °C) and hydrothermal carbonization (low temperature, high pressure) are two efficient methods to produce bio-char with high yield and are applicable to a broad range of feedstocks. Chars made using slow pyrolysis (PC) and hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of the same feedstock material (corn, C4) differed in physical appearance, chemical properties and decomposition behavior. We added these HTC and PC chars as amendments to three soils with C3-derived organic matter that differed in clay content, pH, and land use (managed spruce forest, unmanaged deciduous forest and agriculture), and compared their impacts on carbon sequestration and net greenhouse gas (CO2, 13CO2, N2O and CH4) emissions. HTC addition (1% w/w) significantly increased CO2 emissions in all three soils (p < 0.001), with much of the extra C derived from HTC decomposition. In contrast, PC addition (1% w/w) had almost no impact on deciduous forest soil and actually decreased CO2 emission from the agricultural soil. HTC treatment resulted in increased CH4 emission from all soils but reduced N2O fluxes in the agricultural and spruce forest soils. PC amendment had no significant effect on CH4 emission, and resulted in intermediate levels of N2O emission (between control and HTC treatments). Although both HTC and PC chars were produced from the same feedstock, PC had markedly higher potential for carbon sequestration than HTC.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.soilbio.2013.03.013

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  • Kammann et al. (2012) and Schimmelpfennig et al. (2014) noticed identical outcomes, i.e., emission of CO2 and CH4 during their carbon sequestration study using hydrochars derived from ryegrass and peanut hulls and Miscanthus giganteus as feedstocks.

    “Kammann et al. (2012) and Schimmelpfennig et al. (2014) noticed identical outcomes, i.e., the emission of CO 2 and CH 4 during their carbon sequestration study using hydrochars derived from ryegrass and peanut hulls and Miscanthus giganteus as feedstocks [86,115].”

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Authors
Malghani, S., Gleixner, G., & Trumbore, S. E.
Affiliations
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry (DE)
Corresponding author
Malghani, Saadatullah
Venue
Soil Biology and Biochemistry
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2013-07
Volume
62
Pages
137-146
ISSN
0038-0717 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2162229938
Cited by
202
References
76
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 1
FWCI
22.22
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Soil Biology and Biochemistry (publishedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
Funders
International Max-Planck Research School
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Thermochemical Biomass Conversion Processes
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Fire effects on ecosystems
Keywords
biochar, slow pyrolysis, hydrothermal carbonization, carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas emissions, soil amendment, maize, soil CO2 efflux, methane emissions, nitrous oxide emissions, soil organic matter, spruce forest soil, agricultural soils, deciduous forest soil

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