Biochar is touted as an efficient technology for wastewater treatment, carbon sequestration, and soil amendment. Research efforts over the past decade to expand the application of biochar to industrial and field scales have been spurred by low production costs, the use of locally-available biomass, and its ease of application. Despite this promise, several research challenges have emerged. These include large changes in biochar surface chemistry and reactivity as a function of pyrolysis conditions and feedstock biomass composition, the presence of a considerable mass fraction of nanoparticulate black carbon in newly-pyrolyzed biochar, and the concentration and release of potentially toxic trace metals and organics into solution during the use of biochar for soil amendment or water treatment. To address these emerging issues, we will discuss case studies of biochar soil amendment and water treatment and identify current barriers to its field-scale application, including; metals release, nanoparticle-induced metal mobility, the impacts of competitive metals binding, and issues with field applications aimed at increasing soil fertility and crop yield. The future use of biochar at commercial scales depends on developing a deeper understanding of these and other factors, and ultimately on developing methods to tune biochar chemistry for specific applications.

Emerging challenges in the application of biochar to agricultural and wastewater treatment

2019 Fall National Meeting

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