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Biochar

Biochar

Biochar is the carbon-rich product obtained when biomass, such a wood, manure or leaves, is heated in a closed container with little or no available air. Also called thermal decomposition of organic material under limited supply of oxygen (<700oC) (Lehmann and Joseph 2009).

Usage of biochar

Biochar are basic more stable than any other amendment too soil, which increase nutrient availability beyond the fertilizer effects (Lehmann and Joseph 2009). (Lehmann and Joseph 2009) Also said that biochar efficiently enhance soil quality than any other organic soil amendment. Biochar has ability to hold specific chemical and physical properties such as high  charge density (Liang, et al. 2006), that result in much greater nutrient retention  in combination with a specific resistance chemical structure provides much greater challenge to microbial decay than other soil organic matter (Shindo 1991)


 Benefit of Biochar ( (Australia and New Zealand Biochar Researchers Network 2008), 2008)

• Increase water holding capacity of the soil
• Increase biomass (crop) production
• Increase soil carbon levels
• Increase soil pH
• Decrease Aluminium toxicity
• Decrease tensile strength
• Change microbiology of the soil
• Decrease emissions  from soil of the greenhouse gases CO2, N2O, and CH4
• Improve soil conditions for earthworm populations
• Increase CEC, especially over the long-term
• Improve fertiliser use efficiency

Types of Phytoremediation

Types of phytoremediation

Figure 2 Phytoremediation

 (available from website; http://systemsbiology.usm.edu/BrachyWRKY/WRKY/Phytoremediation.html)

Phytostimulation
Degradation of pollutants in the rhizosphere due to microbial activity (Pilon-Smits 2005)

Phytovolatilization
Release of pollutants by plants in volatile form (Pilon-Smits 2005)

Rhizofiltration 
Use of plants in hydroponic setup for filtering polluted water (Pilon-Smits 2005)

Phytoextraction
Phytoextraction is contaminant uptake by roots with subsequent accumulation in the aboveground portion of a plant, generally to be followed by harvest and ultimate disposal of the plant biomass. It is a contaminant removal process (Pivets 2001)


Phytostabilization
Phytostabilization is the use of vegetation to contain soil contaminants in situ, through modification of the chemical, biological, and physical conditions in the soil. Contaminant transport in soil, sediments, or sludges can be reduced through absorption and accumulation by roots; adsorption onto roots; precipitation, complexation, or metal valence reduction in soil within the root zone; or binding into humic (organic) matter through the process of humification (Pivets 2001)

Phytotransformation 
This is the partial or total degradation of complex organic molecules by their incorporation into plant tissues (Pilon-Smits 2005)

Problem statement

Soil Contamination

Soil contamination is the occurrence of pollutants in soil above a certain level causing a deterioration or loss of one or more soil functions.  Also, Soil Contamination can be considered as the presence of man-made chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment. This type of contamination typically arises from the rupture of underground storage tanks, application of pesticides, and percolation of contaminated surface water to subsurface strata, leaching of wastes from landfills or direct discharge of industrial wastes to the soil. The most common chemicals involved are petroleum hydrocarbons, solvents, pesticides, lead and other heavy metals. The occurrence of this phenomenon is correlated with the degree of industrialization and intensity of chemical usage. (European Commision Joint Research Centre 2014)

Source of soils contamination

Due to the wide range of contaminant, soil and site condition, the level of possible contaminant will be depend on the specific conditions of a particular property (Shayler, McBride and Harrison 2009). Several type of soil pollution can be from:

• ·         Lead paint
• ·         Pesticide
• ·         Industrial/ commercial site
• ·         High traffic
• ·         Treated lumber
• ·         Automobile or machine repair/ junk vehicle storage
• ·         Furniture refinishing
• ·         Landfill/ garbage dump
• ·         Fire
• ·         Fertilizer

Chemical compound that mostly can create soil pollution are:

• ·         Petroleum hydrocarbons
• ·         Pesticides
• ·         Solvents
• ·         Heavy metal

Contamination of soils by heavy metals

The accumulation of heavy metal in surface soil is affected by many environmental variables including parent material and soil properties, as well as by human activities such as industrial production, traffic, farming and irrigation (Yuanan, et al. 2013). Heavy metal is a significant environmental problem worldwide (Alloway 1995). Uncontrolled of process or activities can lead to heavy metal contamination. Among environmental pollution, metal are of particular concern due to the potential toxic affect and its ability to be accumulate in aquatic ecosystem (Censi, et al. 2006)

Lead

Lead is a heavy, soft, malleable metal. Due to its physical and chemical properties, industry has found countless uses for lead in our daily lives. While certain uses of lead are banned, lead is still found in a myriad of products (US EPA 2012).

According to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, environmental levels of lead have increased more than 1,000-fold over the past three centuries as a result of human activity. The greatest increase took place between 1950 and 2000 and reflected the increased use of leaded gasoline worldwide. During this period, the U.S. Government established Federal regulations and made recommendations to limit lead emissions to protect public health in the United States (Kropschot and Doebrich 2011).

Heavy metals in Malaysia

Heavy metal pollution of surface soils due to intense industrialization and urbanization has become serious concern in many developing countries (Mireles, et al. 2012). Like others developing country, where the uncontrolled growth of industrial and commercial sector where factories, mining, quarries, chemical processing and manufacturing will somehow lead to pollution. Malaysia also will face the same problem if the concern about the environment is not taking care of.  

 In Malaysia, most of the study on heavy metal is done on surface water, marine life, tourism area and landfill. Studies reported by several researchers (Ramlan and Badri 1989) shows that concentration of heavy metal in soils and street dust contain significantly higher amount of Fe, Mn, Zn, Pb, Cu and Cd compare to the soil underneath it. Major heavy metal pollutants in surface water includes Hg, Cd, Cr, Cu, As, Zn, and Se (Deparment of Environmental Malaysia 1997)

Phytoremediation, the introduction (TESTING BLOG)

Soil pollution is getting considerable public attention since the magnitude of this problem is growing rapidly (Mathew 2001).  Under Rancangan Malaysia ke sepuluh (RMK10), the New Economic Model strategy, the development of industry become main focus in Malaysia but this good development might also lead us to more pollution especially soil pollution. Heavy metal is a significant environmental problem worldwide (Alloway 1995). Heavy metal pollution of surface soils due to intense industrialization and urbanization has become serious concern in many developing countries (Mireles, et al. 2012).

Heavy metal can remove from soil but it is costly especially considering large pollution area. Study by (Stegmann, et al. 2001)  state that there is 4 alternatives in removing contamination in soils. There are 1) leave the contamination as it is and restrict the utilization of the land. 2) Complete or partial encapsulation of the contaminated site. 3) Excavation of the contaminated soil and followed by landfilling. 4) Treatment of the contaminated soil in-situ or ex-situ, either at an onsite or central plant. The first three methods of cleaning the contaminated soil do not remove pollutants from the soil (Mathew 2005). There are also other methods on treating soil contamination especially heavy metals. One of the treatments that is low cost and also can improve the area of the soil is phytoremediation. The term phytoremediation can be defined as uses of plants to remove pollutants from the environment (Raskin, Smith and Salt 1997). The use of metal-accumulating plants to clean soil and water contaminated with toxic metals is the most rapidly developing components of this environmentally friendly and cost-effective technology (Raskin, Smith and Salt 1997). Fundamental and applied research have unequivocally demonstrated that selected plant species possess the genetic potential to remove, degrade, metabolize, or immobilize a wide range of contaminants. Despite this tremendous potential, phytoremediation is yet to become a commercial technology (Lasat 2001). Phytoremediation is an emerging technology that employs the use of higher plants for the clean of contaminated environments (Lasat 2001). The process of removing the heavy metal by phytoremediation can be increased by using biochar which also help to treat the contaminated soil.

Biochar is the carbon-rich product obtained when biomass, such a wood, manure or leaves, is heated in a closed container with little or no available air. Also called thermal decomposition of organic material under limited supply of oxygen (<700^oC) (Lehmann and Joseph 2009). Biochar are basic more stable than any other amendment too soil, which increase nutrient availability beyond the fertilizer effects (Lehmann and Joseph 2009). (Lehmann and Joseph 2009) Also said that biochar efficiently enhance soil quality than any other organic soil amendment. Biochar has ability to hold specific chemical and physical properties such as high  charge density (Liang, et al. 2006), that result in much greater nutrient retention  in combination with a specific resistance chemical structure provides much greater challenge to microbial decay than other soil organic matter (Shindo 1991)

Figure 1 soil contamination (Available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_contamination)