Together with his co-authors from AIT and BOKU-University Vienna, Gerhard Soja received the “Best Paper Award” from the Journal of Environmental Quality for the article “Characterization of Slow Pyrolysis Biochars: Effects of Feedstocks and Pyrolysis Temperature on Biochar Properties”.
Biochars are increasingly used as soil amendment and for C sequestration in soils. The influence of feedstock differences and pyrolysis temperature on biochar characteristics has been widely studied.
However, there is a lack of knowledge about the formation of potentially toxic compounds that remain in the biochars after pyrolysis. This topic has been investigated in the article and results demonstrated that biochars are highly heterogeneous materials that, depending on feedstock and HTT, may be suitable for soil application by contributing to the nutrient status and adding recalcitrant C to the soil but also potentially pose ecotoxicological challenges.
Link to the publication:
https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/jeq/abstracts/41/4/990