An investigation into "biochar and its potential use as organic soil amendment"

This report investigates the use of biochar as a soil amendment for the UBC Farm. Biochar is made by the pyrolysis of biomass. As sustainable and local sources of soil amendments are decreasing in availability, biochar has come to the farm’s attention for its potential to improve its soil health. Soil health directly relates to a farm’s ecological and economic performance and its productivity. The UBC farm has sandy soils and is considering using biochar in hope that it might off er improved nutrient and water retention, and that it might reduce the annual cost of nutrient supplements added to the soil. The farm also demands to know if it is cost effective to use biochar. Moreover, the farm wonders if using this relatively new mate rial has any social impact. As environmental, economic and social aspects are required for consideration, a triple bottom line assessment is conducted as part of the investigation into the use of biochar as a soil amendment. After a close investigation of biochar’s environmental aspects, it is clear that it offers several benefits to soil as well as the atmosphere. Soil benefits include improved nutrient and water retention and its persistence in soil for over hundreds to thousands of years. Atmospheric benefits include carbon sequestration and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. It holds possible unintended consequences as well. The main consequence to consider is the reduced efficiency of herbicides and pesticides on biochar-amended soils. Economic assessment suggests that the use of biocharas a soil amendment is viable; however, in the short-run, it is not promising as the short term costs of implementing biochar far outweigh the returns gained from exploiting its carbon offset value. Increase in carbon offset prices and a reduction of biochar prices is required for us to deem it economically viable for its application in the long- run. Biochar’s social impact includes possible metal contaminants in its feedstock and possible presence of low concentration of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons. The former can be avoided by a proper selection of its feedstock, and the latter can be ignored as it is not harmful to human. It also provides a beneficial use of agricultural waste which has no other use. After a review of the triple bottom line assessment on the use of biochar discussed above, it is recommended for the UBC farm to use biochar as a soil amendment in the long-run. If the farm plans to use it for a short period of time, economic assessment suggests that it is not cost effective, but environmental and social assessments still favor it. To avoid unintended consequences, it is recommended that the farm should make sure that the supplier of biochar does a proper selection of biomass. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”Applied Science, Faculty ofUnreviewedUndergraduat