Valuing the Air Quality Effects of Biochar Reductions on Soil NO Emissions
Abstract
While it is clear that biochar can alter soil N 2 O emissions, data on NO impacts are scarce. Reports range from 0 to 67% soil NO emission reductions postbiochar amendment. We use regional air quality and health cost models to assess how these soil NO reductions could influence U.S. air quality and health costs. We find that at 67% soil NO reduction, widespread application of biochar to fertilized agricultural soils could reduce O 3 by up to 2.4 ppb and PM 2.5 by up to 0.15 μg/m 3 in some regions. Modeled biochar-mediated health benefits are up to $4.3 million/county in 2011, with impacts focused in the Midwest and Southwest. These potential air quality and health cobenefits of biochar use highlight the need for an improved understanding of biochar’s impacts on soil NO emissions. The benefits reported here should be included with estimates of other biochar benefits, such as crop yield increase, soil water management, and N 2 O reductions.
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Biochar application is important to the enhancement of organic carbon in soil because of an organic aggregate with electronegativity that can absorb CO2 from the air and can be beneficial to both the carbon sink of agricultural soil and the protection of air quality.
“the biochar application is important to the enhancement of organic carbon in soil because of an organic aggregate with electronegativity that can absorb CO 2 from the air and can be beneficial to both the carbon sink of agricultural soil and the protection of air quality”
From Bioenergy production and environmental impacts (2018) · cites this paper as Pourhashem et al. 2017
Application of biochar can help improve the carbon sink function of the agricultural sector because it can aggregate soil organic carbon and absorb inorganic carbon (CO2) from the air and improve air quality.
“The application of biochar can help improve the function in the carbon sink of agricultural sector because it can not only aggregate the SOC but also absorb the inorganic carbon (i.e., CO 2 ) that exists in the air”
From Bioenergy production and environmental impacts (2018) · cites this paper as Pourhashem et al. 2017
Biochar can absorb CO2 from the air and benefit the carbon sink of agricultural soil and air quality protection.
“In addition, the application of biochar produced using residue is important to the enhancement of organic carbon in soil because of an organic aggregate with electronegativity that can absorb CO 2 from the air and can be beneficial to both the carbon sink of agricultural soil and the protection of air quality (Pourhashem et al. 2017).”
From Bioenergy production and environmental impacts (2018) · cites this paper as Pourhashem et al. 2017
Application of biochar produced from crop residue is important to the enhancement of organic carbon in soil.
“In addition, the application of biochar produced using residue is important to the enhancement of organic carbon in soil because of an organic aggregate with electronegativity that can absorb CO 2 from the air and can be beneficial to both the carbon sink of agricultural soil and the protection of air quality (Pourhashem et al. 2017).”
From Bioenergy production and environmental impacts (2018) · cites this paper as Pourhashem et al. 2017
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- Authors
- Pourhashem, G., Rasool, Q. Z., Zhang, R., Medlock, K. B., Cohan, D. S., & Masiello, C. A.
- Affiliations
- Rice University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Pourhashem, Ghasideh
- ORCID
- Venue
- Environmental Science & Technology
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2017-08-10
- Volume
- 51
- Issue
- 17
- Pages
- 9856-9863
- ISSN
- 0013-936X (ISSN-L)
- 1520-5851
- OpenAlex
- W2739421441
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 3
- FWCI
- 2.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Environmental Science & Technology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Rice Research Repository (Rice University) (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNX11AR09G)
- Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University
- Shell Center for Sustainability, Rice University
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Environmental and Air Quality Management
- Keywords
- biochar, soil nitrous oxide emissions, nitric oxide emissions, air quality, health care costs, ozone, PM2.5, agricultural soils, regional air quality modeling, nitrogen management
- MeSH terms
- Agriculture, Air Pollutants, Charcoal, Fertilizers, Nitric Oxide, Soil
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