Everyone enjoys an environment comprised of lawns, landscapes and green trees. However, the various actions of human beings often cause damage and infertility to the once fertile land around us. What if a possible solution existed to the loss of arable land and land degradation plaguing our environment today; a solution not only beneficial to the soil, but also a more natural solution for the plants? There is! Biochar is charcoal used as a soil amendment to help enrich low pH soil to make it more fertile, making it better for agricultural productivity. It is employed by some tree specialists in the creation of a more favorable environment in which trees and plants may grow. These benefits include:
- Enhancing soil fertility by significantly increasing the soil carbon as well as organic matter content of soil.
- Lowering the bulk density of clayey soils as well as improving aeration and drainage of soils.
- Enhancing soil microbial life, which leads to more carbon storage in soil and nitrogen fixation.
- Sequestering carbon in soil, reducing net emissions.
- Reducing methane and nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soils, mitigating further climate effects.
- Assisting in waste recycling and the management of agricultural wastes. Animal and crop wastes are used in biochar manufacturing and these wastes are then converted into bio-energy.
- Decreasing methane gas which is usually generated by natural decomposition of waste material by converting organic waste into biochar.