SOAR is a research school. In addition to the focus on PhD students, SOAR also includes graduates, postdocs and supervisors in the activities and networks. This is important because they also constitute the research environment, in which the PhD student is under education. SOAR wants to contribute to the professional discussions with a special focus on the organic food and farming systems.
The research interests of SOAR cover a wide range of subjects within organic agriculture and food systems:
The stated objectives for this PhD is to characterise the biochar characteristics in terms of environmental properties e.g. nutrients composition, pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC), pore size distribution and biodegradability and determine the short-term effects and mechanism related to biochar amendments on soil fertility, nutrient dynamics and plant growth and quality.
Background
This PhD project is dealing with a new research field - the ‘biochar-technology’, which potentially can mitigate climate change by locking up carbon in the soil. The term 'biochar' (black carbon, charcoal) refers to black carbon formed by the pyrolysis of biomass – a process where biomass is heated up in an oxygen-free or low oxygen environment such that it does not (or only partially) combusts. In the pyrolysis process biooil and syngas are produced along with biochar - all three of them potentially valuable products: The bio-oil can be used as fuel in for example power plants, the syngas as energy an input to the pyrolyzer unit and the biochar as a soil additive. By converting biomass-residues to a carbon-rich and recalcitrant biochar and adding this to the soil, the biochar-C will stay long-term in the soil instead of decomposing to CO2.
In addition to this biochar seems a sustainable and very beneficial soil additive. Biochar incorporation in soil is proposed a mean to compensate for reduced direct biomass incorporation, by potentially building up the soil C-stock as well as improve soil properties and crop yields (Lehmann et al 2006). A number of recent studies have shown greater crop yields on soils with biochar additions compared to soils without biochar (Oguntunda et al 2004, Glaser et al 2002). Biochar is hypothesized to improve soil fertility, partly due to its adsorbent characteristics, preventing cations from leaching and at least in some cases improving the water holding capacity (Woolf 2008).
