The DOI matches its Crossref record, with a small difference in title or year; 105 of the 105 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The way forward in biochar research: targeting trade‐offs between the potential wins
Open accessAbstract
Biochar application to soil is currently widely advocated for a variety of reasons related to sustainability. Typically, soil amelioration with biochar is presented as a multiple‐‘win’ strategy, although it is also associated with potential risks such as environmental contamination. The most often claimed benefits of biochar (i.e. the ‘wins’) include (i) carbon sequestration; (ii) soil fertility enhancement; (iii) biofuel/bioenergy production; (iv) pollutant immobilization; and (v) waste disposal. However, the vast majority of studies ignore possible trade‐offs between them. For example, there is an obvious trade‐off between maximizing biofuel production and maximizing biochar production. Also, relatively little attention has been paid to mechanisms, as opposed to systems impacts, behind observed biochar effects, often leaving open the question as to whether they reflect truly unique properties of biochar as opposed to being simply the short‐term consequences of a fertilization or liming effect. Here, we provide an outline for the future of soil biochar research. We first identify possible trade‐offs between the potential benefits. Second, to be able to better understand and quantify these trade‐offs, we propose guidelines for robust experimental design and selection of appropriate controls that allow both mechanistic and systems assessment of biochar effects and trade‐offs between the wins. Third, we offer a conceptual framework to guide future experiments and suggest guidelines for the standardized reporting of biochar experiments to allow effective between‐site comparisons to quantify trade‐offs. Such a mechanistic and systems framework is required to allow effective comparisons between experiments, across scales and locations, to guide policy and recommendations concerning biochar application to soil.
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“Conversion of forest residues to biochar in the pellet form also helps to capture carbon from the environment and store it in the soil, thus reducing CO 2 in the atmosphere, in addition to increasing soil productivity and enhancing soil carbon [2,10].”
From Lifecycle Assessment and Techno-Economic Analysis of Biochar Pellet Production from Forest Residues and Field Application (2022) · cites this paper as [10]
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Cites
Persistence of soil organic matter as an ecosystem property
Schmidt, M. W. I., Torn, M. S., Abiven, S., Dittmar, T., Guggenberger, G., Janssens, I. A., Kleber, M., Kögel-Knabner, I., Lehmann, J., Manning, D. A. C., et al. (2011) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature10386 · Cited by 6,057
Self-citationBiochar effects on soil biota – A review
Lehmann, J., Rillig, M. C., Thies, J., Masiello, C. A., Hockaday, W. C., & Crowley, D. (2011) · Soil Biology and Biochemistry · doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2011.04.022 · Cited by 5,074
Self-citationBiochar for environmental management: science and technology
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Glaser, B., Lehmann, J., & Zech, W. (2002) · Biology and Fertility of Soils · doi:10.1007/s00374-002-0466-4 · Cited by 2,890 · cited 3×
“For biochar precisely the same ‘win–win’ was proposed as was claimed for terra preta (Glaser et al. 2002).”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationSustainable biochar to mitigate global climate change
Woolf, D., Amonette, J. E., Street-Perrott, F. A., Lehmann, J., & Joseph, S. (2010) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/ncomms1053 · Cited by 2,680
Self-citationJeffery, S., Verheijen, F. G. A., van der Velde, M., & Bastos, A. C. (2011) · Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment · doi:10.1016/j.agee.2011.08.015 · Cited by 2,422
Self-citationBiochar for Environmental Management: Science and Technology
Lehmann, J., & Joseph, S. (2009) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781849770552 · Cited by 2,324
Self-citationA review of biochar and its use and function in soil
Sohi, S. P., Krull, E., Lopez-Capel, E., & Bol, R. (2010) · Advances in Agronomy · doi:10.1016/s0065-2113(10)05002-9 · Cited by 2,240
Self-citationBlack Carbon Increases Cation Exchange Capacity in Soils
Liang, B., Lehmann, J., Solomon, D., Kinyangi, J., Grossman, J., O'Neill, B., Skjemstad, J. O., Thies, J., Luizão, F. J., Petersen, J., et al. (2006) · Soil Science Society of America Journal · doi:10.2136/sssaj2005.0383 · Cited by 2,191
Self-citationThe forms of alkalis in the biochar produced from crop residues at different temperatures
Yuan, J.-H., Xu, R.-K., & Zhang, H. (2011) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2010.11.018 · Cited by 2,029
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Research works printed but not linked: 4
- Higgins JPT, 2009, Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions Version 5.0.2
- Nilesen MN, 2002, Microorganisms as indicators of soil health
- Rondon MA, 2005, 3rd USDA Symposium on Greenhouse Gases and Carbon Sequestration in Agriculture and Forestry
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Nandillon, R. (2019) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/022c5fc7zce18z4adcza5c6z8dcf260ac7e8
Namatsheve, T., Martinsen, V., Mulder, J., Obia, A., & Dörsch, P. (2026) · Biogeosciences · doi:10.5194/bg-23-2787-2026 · Cited by 4
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Metadata
- Authors
- Jeffery, S., Bezemer, T. M., Cornelissen, G., Kuyper, T. W., Lehmann, J., Mommer, L., Sohi, S. P., van de Voorde, T. F. J., Wardle, D. A., & van Groenigen, J. W.
- Affiliations
- Wageningen University & Research (NL)
- Department of Terrestrial Ecology Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO‐KNAW) PO Box 50 Wageningen 6700 AB The Netherlands
- Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NO)
- Cornell University (US)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Jeffery, Simon
- ORCID
- Venue
- GCB Bioenergy
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2013-12-02
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1-13
- ISSN
- 1757-1693 (ISSN-L)
- 1757-1707
- OpenAlex
- W2134207910
- Cited by
- 305
- References
- 105
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 27 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 36 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 21
- FWCI
- 35.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- GCB Bioenergy (publishedVersion)
- KNAW Research Portal (The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) (publishedVersion)
- BIBSYS Brage (BIBSYS (Norway)) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling (acceptedVersion)
- Leiden Repository (Leiden University) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- BIBSYS Brage (BIBSYS (Norway)) (submittedVersion)
- NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- KNAW research portal (Royal Academy of Art and Sciences (KNAW)) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Graduate School Production Ecology and Resource Conservation (PE&RC 12043)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Fuel Technology › Thermochemical Biomass Conversion Processes
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Fire effects on ecosystems
- Keywords
- biochar, soil amendment, trade-offs, carbon sequestration, soil fertility, biofuel production, contaminant immobilization, waste disposal, experimental design, standardized reporting, soil contamination
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