Manure-based charcoal cuts potent greenhouse gas while feeding crops
Bevers N, Timilsina AP, Manandhar A, Ansari A, Klingman M
Soil Health
Compost made from animal waste has long been a gardener's staple, but processing that waste with heat and pressure into hydrochar could squeeze out even more benefit, cutting the soil emissions that make conventional fertilizers a climate liability.
Researchers took manure from dairy cows, pigs, and chickens and cooked it under pressure to make a charcoal-like material called hydrochar. When they added it to soil growing corn, plants grew just as well or better compared to regular synthetic fertilizer, and the soil released less of a potent warming gas called nitrous oxide. The soil did breathe out a little more carbon dioxide, but not enough to cancel out the climate gains from the nitrous oxide reduction.
Key Findings
Hydrochar amendments tended to reduce cumulative nitrous oxide fluxes compared to urea-only fertilizer, with the largest reductions following the second urea application.
Lower hydrochar application rates (15 metric tons/ha) produced more corn biomass than higher rates (30 metric tons/ha), which reduced biomass relative to the control.
Increased CO2 emissions from hydrochar treatments did not fully offset the climate benefit of reduced N2O fluxes at the system level.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Replacing some synthetic nitrogen fertilizer with hydrochar made from animal manures reduced nitrous oxide emissions while maintaining or improving corn growth. The tradeoff is a modest rise in carbon dioxide, but the climate math still favors hydrochar as a soil amendment.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Evaluating the impact of manure-derived hydrochar soil amendments on greenhouse gas fluxes: A greenhouse experiment using soil mesocosms and corn plants.
Animal manure is an agricultural by-product that presents both nutrient value and environmental challenges, particularly through nutrient leaching and greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes. Hydrothermal carb...
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