Journal
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
Volume 10, Issue 1, Pages -Publisher
NATURE RESEARCH
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-76470-y
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Funding
- SOILS-R-GGREAT project of the greenhouse gas removal (GGR) program [NE/P019498/1]
- UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
- Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
- Economic and Social Science Research Council (ESRC)
- UK department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)
- NERC [NE/P019455/1, 2047037, NE/P019498/1] Funding Source: UKRI
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Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) cultivation leaves behind around 20 t ha(-1) of biomass residue after harvest and processing. We investigated the potential for sequestering carbon (C) in soil with these residues by partially converting them into biochar (recalcitrant carbon-rich material). First, we modified the RothC model to allow changes in soil C arising from additions of sugarcane-derived biochar. Second, we evaluated the modified model against published field data, and found satisfactory agreement between observed and predicted soil C accumulation. Third, we used the model to explore the potential for soil C sequestration with sugarcane biochar in SAo Paulo State, Brazil. The results show a potential increase in soil C stocks by 2.35 +/- 0.4 t C ha(-1) year(-1) in sugarcane fields across the State at application rates of 4.2 t biochar ha(-1) year(-1). Scaling to the total sugarcane area of the State, this would be 50 Mt of CO2 equivalent year(-1), which is 31% of the CO2 equivalent emissions attributed to the State in 2016. Future research should (a) further validate the model with field experiments; (b) make a full life cycle assessment of the potential for greenhouse gas mitigation, including additional effects of biochar applications on greenhouse gas balances.
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