The Biochar Factory

     Slash-and-char is an alternative to slash-and-burn that has a lesser effect on the environment. It is the practice of charring the biomass resulting from the slashing, instead of burning it as in the slash-and-burn practice. The resulting residue matter charcoal and biochar improves the soil.     In that context, charcoal can be made by numerous and varied methods, from the simplest (an earth cover on the pile of wood, with strategically placed vents) to the most sophisticated (a modern plant that recuperates and recycles strictly all exhaust gases). (See also: biomass, explaining some of these methods and advantages.) Slash-and-char offers considerable benefits to the environment when compared to slash-and-burn.     It results in the creation of biochar, which can then be mixed with biomass such as crop residues, food waste, manure and / or other, and buried in the soil to bring about the formation of terra preta. Terra preta is one o...

Introduction Application of biochar as soil amendment:      Detailed studies of ancient Amazonian Terra Petra soils have revealed that anthropogenic original black carbon with a high aromatic content has been stabilized, in part, due to interactions with minerals, micro-organisms and soil organic matter (Brodowski et al. 2005; Liang et al. 2010).     The adsorption of soil materials to black carbon protects black carbon from oxidation and decomposition (Nguyen et al. 2008). This implies the mineral attachment to biochar is important in the stabilization process. Interactions and reactions happened immediately on application of biochar to soil, especially at its surface.     The biochar surface proper ties play an important role in these interactions and reactions, and the fresh biochar surface properties are controlled by the pyrolysis conditions applied and feed stocks used. Investigations on the mechanisms of mineral incorporation w...