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Determining the Stability of Sugarcane Filtercake Biochar in Soils with Contrasting Levels of Organic Matter Speratti, Alicia B.; Romanyà, Joan; Garcia-Pausas, Jordi; Johnson, Mark S.

Abstract

Sugarcane filtercake is a nutrient-rich residue produced prior to sugarcane distillation and is commonly disposed of by applying directly to agricultural fields, often causing high decomposition and leaching rates. Transforming this material into biochar could improve its stability in the soil. In this 92-day incubation study, filtercake biochar produced at 400 °C (BC400) and 600 °C (BC600) was used to trace biochar stability when mixed with two soils with different organic matter levels: an agricultural field (1.2% carbon (C)) and a forest (2.8% C) soil. Based on δ¹³C isotope analysis, biochar decreases in the field soil mostly occurred in the coarse silt fraction. In contrast, biochar decreases in forest soil appeared to be more equally distributed in all particle size fractions. A negative priming effect in biochar-amended soils was noticeable, mainly in the forest soil. Cumulative CO₂ emissions were greater in soils with BC400 than in those with BC600 for both field and forest soils, while adding biochar increased CO₂ emissions only in field soils. This increase did not appear to affect native soil organic matter pools. High-temperature filtercake biochar could thus be a more stable alternative to the current practice of raw filtercake applications.

Item Metadata

Title
Determining the Stability of Sugarcane Filtercake Biochar in Soils with Contrasting Levels of Organic Matter
Creator
Speratti, Alicia B.; Romanyà, Joan; Garcia-Pausas, Jordi; Johnson, Mark S.
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Date Issued
2018-05-26
Description
Sugarcane filtercake is a nutrient-rich residue produced prior to sugarcane distillation and is commonly disposed of by applying directly to agricultural fields, often causing high decomposition and leaching rates. Transforming this material into biochar could improve its stability in the soil. In this 92-day incubation study, filtercake biochar produced at 400 °C (BC400) and 600 °C (BC600) was used to trace biochar stability when mixed with two soils with different organic matter levels: an agricultural field (1.2% carbon (C)) and a forest (2.8% C) soil. Based on δ¹³C isotope analysis, biochar decreases in the field soil mostly occurred in the coarse silt fraction. In contrast, biochar decreases in forest soil appeared to be more equally distributed in all particle size fractions. A negative priming effect in biochar-amended soils was noticeable, mainly in the forest soil. Cumulative CO₂ emissions were greater in soils with BC400 than in those with BC600 for both field and forest soils, while adding biochar increased CO₂ emissions only in field soils. This increase did not appear to affect native soil organic matter pools. High-temperature filtercake biochar could thus be a more stable alternative to the current practice of raw filtercake applications.
Subject
SOM; Carbon dioxide emissions; Δ¹³C isotope analysis; Biochar; Sugarcane filtercake; Soil fractions
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2019-06-25
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
CC BY 4.0
DOI
10.14288/1.0379598
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/70774
Affiliation
Science, Faculty of; Non UBC; Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of; Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute for
Citation
Agriculture 8 (6): 71 (2018)
Publisher DOI
10.3390/agriculture8060071
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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CC BY 4.0