Preface

Biochar is a carbon-rich material produced from the pyrolysis of organic materials from agricultural and forestry biomass at a relatively low temperature in the absence of oxygen. Such a process turns agricultural wastes into more useful products. Several studies highlighted the beneficial roles of biochar in solving many agricultural and environmental problems. This product is characterized by the presence of relatively stable carbon forms and therefore it can persist in soils for years. Its application effectively raises soil fertility, especially light-textured soil, with low negative impacts on the global warming threat. Moreover, it can be used successfully to ameliorate contaminated soils and wastewaters. Thus, biochar has become a main focus of research activities over the last few years. Many of these researches bring promises and hopes about the potentiality of using biochar to achieve environmental sustainability goals. In this book, we summarize the latest developments in biochar research activities.

This book includes five sections: "Introduction," "Production and Legislation of Biochar," "Applications of Biochar for Soil Fertility Improvement," "Role of Biochar for Soil Remediation and Ameliorating Salinity Effects" and "Applications of Biochar for Water Treatment." Chapters in the mentioned sections discuss the pros and cons of handling this organic product to sustain the environment and the possible negative effects that come from its extensive use; production process of biochar and its development from basic techniques to highly advanced producing plants; the characteristics of biochar generated from different pyrolysis methods and its role for the remediation of potentially toxic-element contaminated soils and to alleviate adverse salinity effects in salt-affected soils; as well as the potentiality of biochar applications for treating water contaminated with organic and inorganic pollutants.

The editors would like to thank all authors for their contributions. We hope this book will be an invaluable resource for all researchers interested in biochar and environmental studies.

**II**

**Chapter 7 109**

**Chapter 8 123**

**Chapter 9 143**

**Chapter 10 161**

Role of Biochar for Soil Remediation and Ameliorating Salinity Effects **175**

**Chapter 11 177**

**Chapter 12 193**

Applications of Biochar for Water Treatment **205**

**Chapter 13 207**

**Chapter 14 221**

**Chapter 15 241**

Importance of Biochar in Agriculture and Its Consequence

*Vishnu D. Rajput, Manoj Parihar, Sonu Kumar Mahawer,* 

*Rajesh Kumar Singhal and Sukirtee*

Enhancement of Soil Health Using Biochar *by Oladapo T. Okareh and Alaba O. Gbadebo*

*by Godfrey Omulo*

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia *by Khalid A. Alaboudi*

Metals (PTMs) Phytoavailability

*by Ana Carolina Feitosa de Vasconcelos*

Sorption of Heavy Metals onto Biochar

with Polar Halogenated Organic Pollutants

*and Michael Pohořelý*

*by João Arthur Antonangelo and Hailin Zhang*

**Section 4**

**Section 5**

*by Hanuman Singh Jatav, Satish Kumar Singh, Surendra Singh Jatav,* 

Biochar Potential in Improving Agricultural Production in East Africa

Challenges of Biochar Usages in Arid Soils: A Case Study in the

The Use of Biochar as a Soil Amendment to Reduce Potentially Toxic

Biochar Effects on Amelioration of Adverse Salinity Effects in Soils

*by Ramalingham Senthilkumar and Donipathi Mogili Reddy Prasad*

Biochar-Assisted Wastewater Treatment and Waste Valorization *by Abhishek Pokharel, Bishnu Acharya and Aitazaz Farooque*

Application of Biochar for Treating the Water Contaminated

*by Barbora Kamenická, Pavel Matějíček, Tomáš Weidlich* 

### **Ahmed A. Abdelhafez (Editor)**

Eco-environmental Protection Research Institute, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Science (SAAS), China

> Faculty of Agriculture, Soils and Water Department, New Valley University, Egypt

### **Mohammed H. H. Abbas (Co-Editor)**

Faculty of Agriculture, Soils and Water Department, Benha University, Egypt

**1**

Section 1

Introduction

Section 1 Introduction

**3**

the following section.

soils. Moreover, this amendment reduces NO3

**Chapter 1**

Safe?

**1. Introduction**

Introductory Chapter: Is Biochar

*Ahmed A. Abdelhafez, Xu Zhang, Li Zhou, Guoyan Zou,* 

*Naxin Cui, Mohammed H.H. Abbas and Mahdy H. Hamed*

Biochar is a carbon-rich product resulted from the pyrolysis of organic biomass in the absence of oxygen or at relatively low-oxygen conditions [1]. Such a process transforms the easily oxidized carbon fractions presented in the organic residues into more stable forms [2] that can persist in soils for years, probably 7 [3] to 10 [4] years. This amendment reduces, therefore, the emissions of greenhouses gases [5] and can be considered as a climate change mitigation [6]. On the other hand, required amounts of this conditioner to improve soil productivity might be less comparable with compost or other organic amendments on the long run. Accordingly, biochar is presented as a promising soil amendment of high economic and environmental value. It is also named as "the black diamond" [7]. However, many environmental aspects should be considered while using this amendment. The first one considers its manufacturing process. During the pyrolysis process of biochar, significant emissions of CO2 are produced, and this probably raises the levels of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in air [8]. The second important issue is related to the biochar degradation in soil. Under warm climate conditions, its degradation was reported to be relatively high [9, 10], and therefore, further emissions of greenhouse gases might take place from biochar-amended soils. The third topic concerns ethylene, which is a by-product of the pyrolysis process of biochar [11]. This gas is increased considerably in biochar-amended soils to suppress several soil microbial processes [12]. Many researches considered this point a positive one that increases the stability of biochar in soil while reduces the emissions of greenhouse gases produced upon its degradation in soil [13], yet biochar affects negatively soil biota [14]. This is because this product contains a small part of bioavailable C [15] as the labile C is already degraded [16]. Thus, the sustainability of crop production in soil referred by soil health (or soil quality) which "reflects the capacity of a soil to provide ecosystem services" [17] may also be affected. Soil biota not only affects the physical and chemical properties of soil but also improves plant health [18]. Further pros and cons of amending soils with biochar will be discussed briefly in

Several studies demonstrated the positive impacts of amending soils with biochar on increasing crop productivity. For example, amending soils with biochar improves significantly macro- and micronutrients availability [9], in spite of the fact that many biochar additives have an alkaline nature [19], and consequently raises soil pH [7–20]. Nevertheless, soil nutrients strongly are adsorbed on biochar which serves as a slow release fertilizer [21]. It is then thought that the better utility of biochar can be detected on acid soils, rather than alkaline or calcareous

<sup>−</sup> loss through leaching as well as
