**6. Future prospects**

Although biochar utilization has gained much attention in recent years, there still lies a huge knowledge gap that needs to be addressed. The ultimate fate of biochar under field conditions and its long-term influenceon soil quality are questions which remains unanswered. The influence of biochar on soil physical and chemical properties as well as the microbial communities, needs to be further explored especially in accordance to changes in biogeochemical cycles [60]. Researchers need to searchsolutions to reduce GHG emission to a large extent, when soils are amended with biochar [61]. Focus needs to be paid on full-scale outdoor trials of biochar as a way to restore contaminated soils and evaluate how long biochar retains the metals as it ages in the field [15]. Lastly, better understanding of biochar preparation needs to be done with different feedstock materials and pyrolysis processes to target specific soil deficiencies [60].
