Abstract
Seaweed cultivation is a high growth industry that is primarily targeted at human food and hydrocolloid markets. However, seaweed biomass also offers a feedstock for the production of nutrient-rich biochar for soil amelioration. We provide the first data of biochar yield and characteristics from intensively cultivated seaweeds (Saccharina, Undaria and Sargassum – brown seaweeds, and Gracilaria, Kappaphycus and Eucheuma – red seaweeds). While there is some variability in biochar properties as a function of the origin of seaweed, there are several defining and consistent characteristics of seaweed biochar, in particular a relatively low C content and surface area but high yield, essential trace elements (N, P and K) and exchangeable cations (particularly K). The pH of seaweed biochar ranges from neutral (7) to alkaline (11), allowing for broad-spectrum applications in diverse soil types. We find that seaweed biochar is a unique material for soil amelioration that is consistently different to biochar derived from ligno-cellulosic feedstock. Blending of seaweed and ligno-cellulosic biochar could provide a soil ameliorant that combines a high fixed C content with a mineral-rich substrate to enhance crop productivity.
Highlights
Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to Biochar from commercially cultivated seaweed for soil amelioration
We find that seaweed biochar is a unique material for soil amelioration that is consistently different to biochar derived from ligno-cellulosic feedstock
Seaweed biochar was produced from six species of seaweed and each of these species was collected from two geographically distinct locations that are representative of the dominant sources of each biomass feedstock (Table 1)
Summary
Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to Biochar from commercially cultivated seaweed for soil amelioration. Seaweed biomass offers a feedstock for the production of nutrient-rich biochar for soil amelioration. Blending of seaweed and ligno-cellulosic biochar could provide a soil ameliorant that combines a high fixed C content with a mineral-rich substrate to enhance crop productivity. The high CEC of seaweed biochar makes it a highly effective in the retention of nutrients in agricultural soils It makes it an effective biosorbent of metals from waste water effluents, and seaweed biochar can be modified to increase its affinity for problematic oxyanionic contaminants such as selenium (Se) that otherwise show limited affinity for passive biosorbents[7,8,9]. We produce biochar from commercially available seaweed feedstock that represents the predominant biomass sources currently available for large-scale biochar production (,15 million t yr21, ,78% global annual seaweed production[1])
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