This study aimed to determine effects of rice straw biochar on Pb sequestration in a soil-rice system. Pot experiments were conducted with rice plants in Pb-contaminated paddy soils that had been amended with 0, 2.5, and 5% (w/w) biochar. Compared to the control treatment, amendment with 5% biochar resulted in 54 and 94% decreases in the acid soluble and CaCl2-extractable Pb, respectively, in s...

The impact of increasing amendments of two particle sizes of biochar (≤2 mm and 3–7 mm), applied at 0%, 0.01%, 0.1% and 1% concentrations, on the development of indigenous phenanthrene catabolism was investigated in two soils with different soil organic matter contents. Mineralisation of C-phenanthrene was measured after 1, 20, 60 and 100 d soil-phenanthrene-biochar aging period. The presence o...

Material dielectric properties are important for understanding their response to microwaves. Carbonaceous materials are considered good microwave absorbers and can be mixed with dry biomasses, which are otherwise low-loss materials, to improve the heating efficiency of biomass feedstocks. In this study, dielectric properties of pulverized biomass and biochar mixtures are presented from 0.5 GHz ...

Green roofs are used increasingly to alleviate peaks of water discharge into the sewage systems in urban areas. Surface runoff from roofs contain pollutants from dry and wet deposition, and green roofs offer a possibility to reduce the amounts of pollutants in the water discharged from roofs by degradation and filtering. These pollutants would otherwise enter wastewater treatments plants and ul...

The impact and cost of synthetic fertilizers as well as their associated risks on the environmental safety was becoming unaffordable. To alleviate these problems, integrating this synthetic fertilizers with easily available and an environment friendly compound like bio-char is of very high significance towards meeting our goal of increasing agricultural production and ensuring food security. Th...

The effect of biochar amendment of a multi-element contaminated soil on the transfer and accumulation of Cd, Zn, Pb, and As in wheat was investigated in this study. Addition of biochars from rice residues (straw, husk, and bran) significantly decreased shoot Cd, Zn, and Pb concentrations by up to 71%, 37%, and 60%, respectively, but increased As by up to 199%. Biochar additions decreased the NH...

A field remediation treatment was carried out to examine the long-term effect of biochar on the immobilisation of metals and the revegetation of a contaminated site in Castleford, UK. The extracted concentrations of nickel (Ni) (II) and zinc (Zn) (II) in the carbonic acid leaching tests were reduced by 83-98% over three years. The extracted Ni (II) and Zn (II) concentrations three years after t...

Biochar is a stable carbon-rich by-product synthesized through pyrolysis/carbonization of plant- and animal-based biomass. An increasing interest in the beneficial application of biochar has opened up multidisciplinary areas for science and engineering. The potential biochar applications include carbon sequestration, soil fertility improvement, pollution remediation, and agricultural by-product...

The occurrence of fluoroquinolone antibiotics in wastewater has drawn great attention. Adsorption of widely used fluoroquinolone antibiotics (enrofloxacin and ofloxacin) in wastewater using bamboo biochar was investigated. More than 99% of fluoroquinolone antibiotics were removed from the synthetic wastewater through adsorption. Adsorption capacities of bamboo biochar slightly changed when pH i...

We estimate the profitability of producing biochar from crop residue (corn stover) for two scenarios. The first employs slow pyrolysis to generate biochar and pyrolysis gas and has the advantage of high yields of char (as much as 40 wt-%) but the disadvantage of producing a relatively low-value energy product (pyrolysis gas of modest heating value). The second scenario employs fast pyrolysis to...