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Carbon Sequestration in Soils

197

converted to biochar. In the UK we would be considering plantation woodland, short-rotation coppicing of willow or something like Miscanthus
(elephant grass). Greater options are available in tropical regions with wastes
like bagasse, pulp waste from oil palm, rice husks and various nut shells, as well
as biomass that might otherwise be used as bio-fuel. It should be remembered
that using biomass, grown by the xation of carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, as a biofuel is carbon neutral (no net loss or gain of CO2); using
biomass to generate biochar is carbon negative (a net uptake of CO2), though
obviously less energy is produced.
Are there any downsides to biochar production? First, we have to be sure
that adding biochar to soil does not lead to any long-term toxicity. The
experience of the terra preta soils would suggest few problems, though we do
not know the exact conditions under which the biochar was produced or from
what. Contemporary biochar loadings of 50 t C ha1 have shown benet and
loadings of 140 t C ha1 have been tolerated by most plants, though there have
been limited studies on this.42 Secondly, there is some concern that redirecting
wastes away from direct application to the land, or following composting,
may deplete the soil of essential organic inputs that maintain the microbial
biomass, soil fertility and soil structure, leaving it more open to erosion and
degradation.43 We would have to be assured that the timely reapplication of
biochar would make up for any deciencies.
How much carbon may be sequestered using biochar? In one sense there is no
upper limit. While the addition of organic materials to soil will eventually lead to
a new equilibrium level, the annual addition of biochar will give a continual linear
increase in carbon. Any nal levels where negative eects may begin to show will
almost certainly exceed those possible by the addition of organic residues. Using
biochar as a means to generate renewable energy in place of current direct biomass combustion would lead to the production of 0.18 Pg C a1 (ref. 42). This is a
relatively small, but not insignicant ux when compared to those on the global
scale (Figure 2), although it has the potential to be much larger with greater
commitment to producing more energy from biomass production.

5.5

Other Greenhouse Gases and Carbon Equivalents

While this chapter has concentrated on sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide

into the soil mainly as SOM, any strategies should also take into consideration
the possible impact on the emission of other greenhouse gases (GHGs).12
Natural wetland (peatland) soils and paddy (rice cultivation) soils are major
sources of methane, while a third major source of methane is livestock. At the
same time, a great many soils have varying capacities to take up small quantities
of methane and remove it from the atmosphere. The use of nitrogen fertiliser is a
major source of nitrous oxide. The worst oender is the direct use of nitrate, but
ammonium fertiliser may be slowly oxidised to nitrate and even organic nitrogen
will be mineralised to ammonium and then converted to nitrate. Smaller
quantities of methane and nitrous oxide may be released from manures and
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