Nitrous oxide emission reduction in temperate biochar-amended soil

Posted in News, Biochar, Climate , Science

We found mean N2O emission reductions of 60% compared to soils without addition of biochar

Abstract
Biochar, a pyrolysis product of organic residues, is an amendment for agricultural soils to improve soil fertility, sequester CO2 and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
In highly weathered tropical soils laboratory incubations of soil-biochar mixtures revealed substantial reductions for nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2 5 ).

In contrast, evidence is scarce for temperate soils. In a three-factorial laboratory incubation experiment two diﬀerent temperate agricultural soils were amended with green waste and coﬀee grounds biochar. N2O and CO2 emissions were measured at the beginning and end of a three month incubation. The experiments were conducted under three 10 diﬀerent conditions (no additional nutrients, glucose addition, and nitrate and glucose addition) representing diﬀerent ﬁeld conditions. We found mean N2O emission reductions of 60% compared to soils without addition of biochar. The reduction depended on biochar type and soil type as well as on the age of the samples. CO2 emissions were slightly reduced, too. NO − 3 but not NH + 4 concentrations were signiﬁcantly reduced 15 shortly after biochar incorporation. Despite the highly signiﬁcant suppression of N2O emissions biochar eﬀects should not be transferred one-to-one to ﬁeld conditions but need to be tested accordingly. Source Nitrous oxide emission reduction in temperate biochar-amended soil

Item Tag: CO2, Emission, GHG, N2O, NH, Nitrous Oxide, NO, Science

Comments (3)

Laylah

09 April 2012 at 15:21 | #

Have you had your soil tested? Some additives, even natural and organic, can actually hinder healthy plant growth if overdone. Your local extension office will help with this for a minimal fee.
Let your plants tell you what they need (Blossom-end rot on tomatoes indicates a calcium or magnesium deficiency, yellowing but otherwise healthy leaves means more nitrogen is required).What are you growing vegetables, flowers, shrubs? Some like an alkaline soil, some need acid. Coffee grounds, if not over-used, are beneficial, but slightly acid. Eggshells supply calcium. Epsom salts contain magnesium. Green materials such as vegetable parings and grass clippings are rich in nitrogen, but can pull it and can burn plants if applied directly or when too green. If you want to fertilize naturally, the best thing you can do is keep a compost pile, and work the finished compost into planting soil.

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Khaled

08 April 2012 at 11:21 | #

Greensand An organic feieilrztr which is a good source of iron, potassium, and trace minerals. Mined from ancient seabeds.greensand, 40# Fish Emulsion A concentrated organic feieilrztr made from fish or fish by-products. Combine it with seaweed will make an excellent feieilrztr. NPK approx. 4-1-1 to 7-2-2.Aragonitelocation for aragonite is Molina de Aragf3n (Guadalajara, Spain), 25 km outside Aragon.It exists naturally in the shells of chiton and other mollusks.Contains 94-97% calcium carbonate.Epsom Salts Hydrated magnesium sulfate, used as a fast acting source of magnesium and sulfur. These are elements that are needed in the soil. Excellent organic feieilrztr.Coffee Grounds People are finding that a long tossed substance is rich in nitrogen and can be used in the garden and compost piles. Check with your local coffee shop for a steady supply of grounds.Seaweed A saltwater plant, when grounded, will stimulate root growth and has over 60 trace minerals needed by plants. This organic feieilrztr when combined with fish emulsion will make the best complete feieilrztr. Try it at these good prices, try Seaweed-many different brands Chilean Nitrate of Soda, also known as Natural Nitrate of Soda, is a highly soluble, quick acting granular feieilrztr that is 16 percent nitrogen. It is also high in sodium so do not use it on arid soils where salt buildup is likely or on plants that are sensitive to salt. Chilean nitrate is mined from a desert in northern Chile, most likely the only known deposit of this mineral salt. It should not be depended upon as the only source of nitrogen. Applying this nitrate mixed with an organic amendment like cocoa meal, peanut meal or compost will add to the efficiency of both products.Azomite (0-0-2.5, 5% Calcium)A natural, odorless, volcanic mineral rich in trace elements.May be used with potting soil, indoor plants, gardens, and mix in with compost and your favorite organic feieilrztr.Apply to gardens at 1 pound per 10 square feet, houseplants you want to use 1 teaspoon in water every 3 months.

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Yusuf

08 April 2012 at 09:35 | #

Sorry to kill the buzz, but the web traffic for Finder is dead low, about 100 page views a day. I'm not airdeng this as a success from print to web. For an Eisner-nominated book, I read this as very bad. And it's a shame, because Finder is awesome.The entire Girlamatic site has a lower stat ranking than mine. I don't know the exact numbers per strip, but the highest I could find was averaging about 3,000 page views per day. After how many years online? Geezus. Many appear to have been abandoned or moved their websites. Galaxion, which has been ongoing for years, is getting modest traffic again, only about 1,000-2,000 page views per day. Sad, it's a really nice comic.I'm looking at PW numbers, and while they can be off, stat rankings compared to PW #'s can't be THAT far off. And I showed you my exact, internal numbers. You can compare for yourself.I still can't find any Western long form serial print to web dramas averaging five figure or better daily page views. Except mine. You can't make decent money with 2,000 page views a day. You'd think comedy strips like Apes and Babes would do better, but even Frank Cho is not getting the numbers he ought to get, even though his numbers are OK.There does not appear to be much crossover between the print and web audiences. If you are in print, that means nothing re the web numbers you get. And vice versa. I disagree strongly that ..many works, like ADS and Finder, jump media successfully. I'm not seeing it. I'm seeing two different audiences with two different sets of habits, and it takes a long time to reach one and then the other. As I have found out for myself. It has taken YEARS to find a solid audience online, and I think it's going to take another year more to turn that into decent income. Any webcomic that can't get more than a couple thousand page views a day after years in production is a disaster. That's a lot of work for very little return.If the audience wasn't out there clapping to revive Tinkerbell, I was ready to chuck it last year.The whole thing reminds me very strongly of the self publishing boom and bust. Utopianism followed by wake up call.

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