Biochar for Soil Remediation & Reclamation - Soil and Groundwater - Site Remediation
Disturbing soils through various industrial activities results in the loss of nutrients, increased bulk density and changes in physical, chemical and biotic properties, including the loss of soil organic matter. Soil organic matter plays a vital role in the success of disturbed land reclamation and remediation, improving soil properties such as nutrient availability, infiltration and water holding capacity. Properties such as these are of uniquely significant importance for ecosystem functions that will assist in long-term sustainable reclamation in arid and semi-arid climates that are found across large areas of the western United States.
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BIOCHAR FOR ENHANCED REMEDIATION & ENVIRONMENTAL RECLAMATION
The accumulation of soil carbon using natural recovery techniques is a slow process, and a successful remediation project serves to accelerate the natural recovery process to build long-term carbon storage and soil health.
Biochar has been used and an amendment for the remediation and or reclamation of drastically disturbed sites due to micro-chemical, physical, and biological properties as well as it’s stability in soil. The focus in this section will be on its land applications. However, the environmental biochar applications are becoming better defined and significant.
Through the creation of an engineered vegetative cover, biochar, in addition to other soil amendments, can effectively reduce erosion, and therefore contaminant leaching, by providing an anchored biological surface structure to manage disturbances and the vertical migration of water through contaminated sub-surface mediums.
The successful stabilization of disturbed landscapes is contingent upon the long-term natural succession of plant communities, enhanced soil development processes, and the restoration of soil microbial ecosystem functionality to a state of self-sustainability. The inclusion of biochar in engineered vegetative covers may greatly enhance the success of remediation and can be achieved in ways that can be more cost-effective than conventional approaches.
