BIOCHAR SUSTAINABILITY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
IBI WEBINAR SERIES Dr. N. SAI BHASKAR REDDY, [email protected] | 14th April 2015
BIOCHAR
Biochar is another name for charcoal used for purposes other than combustion.
Like all charcoal, biochar is created by the pyrolysis of biomass.
BIOCHARS
There are various types of biochars, based on feedstock's and production technologies.
Biochar as
Growth promoter
Soil conditioner
Soil amendment
Traditional use of biochar
BIOCHARCULTURE
Biocharculture is a holistic approach that has been historically tested, traditionally practiced, is culturally integral, economically viable, socially responsible, environmentally sustainable, and agreeable as a policy.
The uses of biochar—as part of biocharculture—include its application in the areas of soil management, livestock, biomass energy, water purification, green habitats, sanitation, food, health, etc.
BIOCHARCULTURE ADAPTATION BENEFITS
Securing the crop from drought and climate
variabiiity
Reclaim the degraded soils
water conservation
Lessen the impact of hazardous pesticides
and complex chemicals
reducing emissions and increasing the carbon
sequestration
Conversion of biomass into biochar
Increase in crop yieldincreases in C, N, pH, and available P to the
plants
Impacts of biochar last more than 1000 years.
Book published by MetaMeta, Netherlands, August 2014
SUSTAINABILITY OF BIOCHAR
Biocharculture integration into traditional and local practices should be encouraged. Encouraging local communities to produce and use biochar with locally available raw material is considered sustainable.
Biochar blends are mostly organic / natural
ENVIRONMENTAL
CARBON SEQUESTRATI
ON
REDUCED GREEN HOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
SECURING FROM CLIMATE
VARIABILITY
ONE OF THE GLOBAL
WARMING AND CLIMATE CHANGE
MITIGATION SOLUTIONS
LIVELIHOODS
INCREASED CROP YIELD
INCREASED INCOME
RECLAMATION OF DEGRADED SOILS
BIOLOGICAL
- INCREASED SOIL MOCROBES AND
FUNGI. REPULSION OF ANTS AND
TERMITES,
PHYSICAL
- SOIL MOISTURE RETENTION, SOIL
TEXTURE, AND TEMPERATURE, SURFACE AREA
CHEMICAL
RETENTION AND ACCESS OF NITROGEN,
PHOSPHOROUS, ADSORBTION OF
HAZARDOUS PESTICIDES
CHARCOAL PLUS
AMENDMENTS TO SOIL
BIOCHAR FRAMEWORK
Other Environmental Applications
Climate Change
Climate change will affect
food and water security.
The coming decades global warming will
cause droughts, floods, changes in rainfall patterns, severe
freshwater shortages, and shifts in crop
growing seasons—especially in developing countries (FAO 2008).
Adaptive measures are needed to mitigate expected adverse
outcomes; otherwise, areas such as Southern Africa will suffer severe
drops in agricultural yields by 2030 (World
Bank 2009).
Major challenges
Climate change -variability -extremes
Soil fertility Water management
Impact of hazardous
pesticides and nitrogen fertilizers
Burning of crop residue
Alkalinity of soils
AGRICULTURE SHARE – GDP vs. EMPLOYMENT
http://data.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/wdi-final.pdf
Climate Smart Sustainable agriculture
Sustainable agriculture can help developing countries adapt to climate change Sustainable agriculture is essential for development—and for achieving the MDG to eradicate poverty and hunger (World Bank and IFPRI 2006).
Today’s challenges for sustainable agricultural development are to respond to increasing demand for food, adjust to rapid climate changes caused by global warming, and reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions (FAO 2008a).
Climate change mitigation in agriculture will require more efficient use of fertilizer, soil conservation, and better production management.
Under current fertilization practices, crop plant uptake of nitrogen as a nutrient is about 50 percent, with losses and emissions to the atmosphere through runoff and leaching from soil erosion (Takle and Hofstrand 2008; FAO 2001).
http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/w2612e/w2612emap12-e.pdf
Damage has occurred on 15 percent of the world’s total land area (13 percent light and moderate, 2 percent severe and very severe), mainly resulting from erosion, nutrient decline, salinization and physical compaction.
Developing Countries Climate• Arid and semi-arid areas account for one third of the earth’s surface land
area.
• In many parts of the subhumid and semiarid tropics, crop yields are declining on response to inputs such as fertilizers, and droughts and shortages of irrigation water are increasingly evident.
• Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia pose two different challenges in raising food production to meet their food needs.
• ICRISAT (1998) estimates that semi-arid areas, especially within the tropics, cover most parts of the developing nations in the world including Latin America, most parts of sub-Saharan Africa, a large portion of Eastern and Southern Africa and parts of India and South East Asia.
http://www.eoearth.org/edit/article/51cbeda07896bb431f692df8/
Source: http://blogs-images.forbes.com/evapereira/files/2011/01/Developed_and_developing_countries3.png
An important accumulation of low economicand social development can be detected from both sides of the equator, roughly between 20S and 30N. Both in the north and in the south of that band the income levels grow steeply.
RECENT STUDIES / REPORTS
•
BIOCHAR PROJECTS -COUNTRY WISE
http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-9525-7
BIOCHAR PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES
http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-9525-7
BIOCHAR FEEDSTOCKS Biomass from agriculture, forestry, livestock rearing, food production and processing..Woody biomass— softwoods, hardwoods, or a combinationAgricultural residues including bagassefrom sugar cane, corn stover, rice husks, cereal straw, and coconut shells, etc..
http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-9525-7
SOURCES OF BIOMASS FOR BIOCHAR
CROP RESIDUE (800 million tons of biomass burnt)
COTTON STALKS (22.3 million tons generated)
PROSOPIS JULIFLORA
RICE HUSK
OTHER BIOMASS
(in India)
Plants
Stoves
Biochar
Soil FertilityCarbon SequestrationEmission reductionWater conservation
EnergyEmissions reductionBiomass conservationBiochar as byproduct
Carbon as biocharWater and fertilizers conservationCarbon sequestration
Note: Presenter has designed low cost highly efficient 50 good stoves that produce biochar as a byproduct. http://goodstove.com Also see the book Understanding Stoves http://metameta.nl/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Understanding-Stoves-okt-10-webversion.pdf
BIOCHAR PRODUCING STOVES
CHARCOAL PRODUCTION
A B C
CHIMNEY
PRIMARY AIR
SECONDARY AIR
GEO metal retort
Magh biochar retort 2
Magh biochar retort 1
BIOCHAR PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES
http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-9525-7
BIOCHAR PRODUCTION SYSTEMS
JAGGERYCOMPOST
BIOCHAR
SOIL MICROBES
GREEN MULCH
BIOCHAR COMPOST
http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-9525-7
BIOCHAR APPLICATION METHODS
CROP YIELD INCREASE
SOIL IMPROVEMENT
WAGES FROM PRODUCTION
INCOME FROM SALE
INCREASE IN YIELD AND PRODUCTION
TEST PLOTS
CONTROL BIOCHAR COMPOST
4 KGS 8 KGS 12 KGS
1.5 FEET 6 FEET
CONTROL BIOCHAR
LIVELIHOODS
• Agriculture productivity increases
• Low input agricultureNatural
• Local jobs and equity
• Local enterprisesSocial
• Least skills required
• BiocharcultureHuman
• Local technologies
• Low energy Physical
• Low carbon economy
• Low costFinancial
• Carbon sequestration and energy security
• Mitigation and adaptation to climate changeEnvironment
CARBON OFFSET PAYMENTS
Initially, subsidies / carbon offset payments are needed in the developing countries for sustainability of biocharfacilitation
BIOCHAR BUSINESSES
In the present market less than 25% biochar businesses and production technologies are from developing countries
MARKET
Low price of biochar in the developing countries might trigger exports
Subsidies a hindrance
Lack of awareness
Gardening
Agriculture (Large Farms)
Household
Others
PRICE OF BIOCHAR
Unblended biochar and biochar products blended with other materials are being sold in many countries at a wide range of retail prices ranging from $0.08 to $13.48 per kilogram. The average price reported was $2.48 per kilogram.
http://www.biochar-international.org/State_of_industry_2013
http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-9525-7
UTILIZATION OF BIOCHAR PRODUCT
CULTURAL
SPIRITUAL
BELIEFS
RITUALS
FESTIVALS
ALTARS
CREMATION
SOURCES (BIOMASS)
GOOD STOVES
•TLUDs
•Other stoves
CROP RESIDUE
POULTRY LITTER
WASTE MANAGEMENT
•Sludge
PRACTICES
FOOD PRESERVING
FOOD
CLEANING
MEDICINE
MATTRESS
TOOTH POWDER
AIR QUALITY
• CO2 / CH4WATER TREATM
ENT
AQUARIUM /
TERRARIUMS
BIOCHAR BRICKS
BIOCHAR URINALS
SOAK PITS
FILTERING MEDIA
INSECT REPELLE
NT
SOIL AMENDMENT
INCREASED PRODUCTI
ONSOIL
TEMPERATURE
REGULATED
MOISTURE RETENTION
WATER CONSERVA
TION
NITROGEN /
PHOSPHOROUS
RETENTION
NURSERIESPESTICIDES ADBSORBTI
ON
SOIL MICROBES DENSITY
INCREASE
BIOCHAR COMPOST
EARTHWORMS
INCREASE
TERMITES / ANTS
REPULSION
CARBON SEQUESTR
ATION
ANIMALS
POULTRY -CH4
REDUCTION
LIVESTOCK -URINE AND
DUNG
FYM / COMPOST
BIOMASS
BIOCHAR
ENERGY
SOIL
BIOCHAR
BIOCHAR COMPOST
AGRICUTURE
PADDY METHANE EMISSIONS REDUCTION
PESTICIDE & COMPLEX
CHEMICALS AFFECTS
MITIGATION
EMMISIONS REDUCTION FROM FARM
YARD MANURES AND
COMPOSTS
CROP RESIDUE MANAGEMENT
ANIMALS
APPLICATION IN ANIMAL PLACES TO TAP URINE,
SANITATION AND
EMISSIONS REDUCTION
RUMINANT ANIMALS METHANE EMISSIONS
REDUCTION AS FEED ADDITIVE
SOAKING IN WITH ANIMALS
URINE AND EXCRETA -
VALUE ADDITION
ENERGY
SOURCE FROM EFFICIENT TLUD COOK STOVES
AS BY PRODUCT FROM GASIFIER
STOVES, BOILERS ETC
CHARCOAL PRODUCTION
FROM BIOMASS / WASTE
MANAGEMENT
HABITAT
BIOCHAR BRICKS
BIOCHAR IN AQUARIUMS
BIOCHAR IN POULTRY FARMS
BIOCHAR IN FRIDGES,
MATTRESSES, ETC.
SANITATION
BIOCHAR URINALS
BIOCHAR TOILETS
BIOCHAR IN CATTLE SHEDS
CLEANING PLATES / UTENSILS
BATHING
HEALTH
CLEANING TEETH
BIOCHAR TABLETS
BIOCHAR IN FOOD AS PART
OF FOOD PREPARATIONS
WATER
WATER PURIFICATION –COLOR, ODOR, REMOVAL OF
HARMFUL ELEMENTS, ETC.
RITUAL / SPIRITUAL / RELIGIOUS / PRACTICES
FIRE / ALTAR / YAGNAS /
AGNIHOTRA
FIRE DURING FESTIVALS
CREMATIONS
NATURAL / ARTIFICIAL
FIRES IN FORESTS /
FIELDS, ETC.
METHANE EMISSIONS REDUCTION
LIVESTOCK URINE
BIOCHAR URINALS
POTTERY SHARDS
BIOCHAR IN LIVING PLACES
BIOCHAR BRICKS
BIOCHAR URBAN GARDENS
ADVANTAGES OF BIOCHAR URBAN GARDENS
Less weight and insulation to the rooftops
Economic savings through access to self grown food
Utilization of urban organic waste for biochar compost.
Aesthetics and green spaces on rooftops
REJUVENATING WATER BODIES
BIOCHAR DYKE
Perforated pipe
Sand
Biochar
Gravel
SEWAGIGATION
Road
Sewerage
Clean water for irrigation
Drip Irrigation
SEWAGIGATION
FLOATIGATION
water
Plastic container
Float (Styrofoam)
USED PET WATER BOTTLES FOR FLOATS
EMERGENT PLANTS IN DEEP WATERS
FLOATIGATION
FLOATIGATION
FLOATIGATION
BIOCHAR ALGAE TRAPS
REED ISLANDS WITH BIOCHAR
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