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Characterization of biochars produced from seven biomasses grown in three different climate zones

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Abstract

The characterization of biochars produced from seven feedstocks (four crop straws: cotton stalks, wheat stalks, rape stalks and corn stalks; three hardwoods: Salix babylonica Linn, Platanus orientalis and Robinia pseudoacacia) grown in three different climate zones (arid, semiarid and humid regions) were investigated for their potential as soil amendments. The results show that ash content, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, CEC, Cl−, pH, and salinity are generally higher in the straw biochars (STR-BCs) than the hardwood biochars (HW-BCs). However, there is no significant distinction between the two categories of biochars in terms of surface acidity, surface basicity, TC, available phosphorus (A-P) or NH4 +-N. The contents of K+, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, EC, Cl− of all 21 biochars increase in semi-arid and arid regions in comparison to humid regions, while ash content, TC, CEC, pH, surface acidity, surface basicity, A-P and NH4 +-N show no correlation to the climate. From the perspective of K+, CEC and the remediation of acidified soils, STR-BCs are preferable over HW-BCs as a soil amendment, while HW-BCs are more suitable than STR-BCs in soils with a saline problem. EC, Na+ and Cl− increase with the water stress of the climatic regions, and the high saline ions of biochar in the arid regions indicate that biochars produced from local biomass, especially from crop residues, are at a high risk of exacerbating soil salinization. The big difference in the critical chemical properties, such as the saline ions, stresses that biochar should be taken on a regional basis as well as a biomass basis, with the general assumption that whether biochar as a soil amendment is good or bad is groundless.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported jointly by the Strategic Technology Pilot Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA05070400), the Science-technology Support Plan Project of Guizhou Province, China ([2013]3135), Science and Technology Supporting Xinjiang Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences, International Technical Cooperation and Exchange Project (2015DFG92450).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 550002, China

    Fang Yang, Xin-qing LEE & Bin Wang

  2. Chengdu Hydrogeological and Engineering Geological Team, Chengdu, 610072, China

    Fang Yang

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  1. Fang Yang
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  2. Xin-qing LEE
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  3. Bin Wang
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Correspondence to Fang Yang or Xin-qing LEE.

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Yang, F., LEE, Xq. & Wang, B. Characterization of biochars produced from seven biomasses grown in three different climate zones. Chin. J. Geochem. 34, 592–600 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11631-015-0072-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11631-015-0072-4

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