Mitigation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions with Biochar Application in Compacted and Uncompacted Soil

Abstract

Biochar may offer a substantial potential as a climate change mitigation and soil improvement agent; however, little is known about its effects in fertile soils subjected to standard agricultural practices. The aim of this short-term (60 days) lab experiment, under controlled temperature and soil moisture regimes, was to investigate the interaction between soil compaction and fertiliser and biochar addition in relatively fertile Luvisol. Three different biochar types and two soil compaction levels were investigated to describe their interactive effect on soil greenhouse gas emission (GHG). A very strong effect of soil compaction on N2O emission (+280%) and an interaction with biochar were found. The cumulative N2O emissions from the compacted soil were higher (from +70 to +371%, depending on the biochar type) than the uncompacted soil. Soil compaction resulted in a faster onset and a faster decrease of N2O production. Biochar did not affect the temporal dynamics of N2O evolution from either soil. The addition of digestate/crop biomass biochar has resulted in a significant increase in CO2 evolution both in compacted and uncompacted soils, compared to softwood from spruce (mixture of branches and wood chips) and wood pallets from softwood (spruce without bark) biochar. In the compacted soil, NH4+ availability was positively related to N2O efflux, and CO2 emission was positively correlated to both NH4+ and SOC content. An increase in GHGs as a result of an increase in NH4+ availability was seen both in compacted and uncompacted soils, while the rates of N2O emission were modified by biochar type. Our results show a strong interaction between biochar and soil conditions and a strong effect of biochar type on GHG emissions from agricultural soils.