Biochar Carbon Sequestration

Transcription

1 Biochar Carbon Sequestration In Tropical Land Use Systems Christoph Steiner Laurens Rademakers Winfried E. H. Blum

2 Greenhouse gas emissions

3 Biofuels fossil fuel substitution Holly K Gibbs et al 2008 Environ. Res. Lett. 3 Annual biofuel carbon saving (tons C/ha/year) Biofuels may substitute fossil fuels but not sequester carbon

4 Biofuels carbon debt Holly K Gibbs et al 2008 Environ. Res. Lett. 3

5 Biofuels considerations Induced land use change The need to double food production until 2050 Tilman at al. 2001, Science 292 Dependency on non-renewable resources (fossil fuels, rock phosphate, Hall and Hall 1993, Cordell et al. 2009) Environmental changes soil degradation climate change Importance of Waste Biomass Utilization! Biofuels, Carbon Sequestration and Soil Restoration

6 Conditions for Biochar Carbon Sequestration Fast growing biomass supply Waste biomass or wasted biomass

7 Conditions soils Low CEC and importance of SOC Acidity Fast decomposition of labile SOC 78 million ha of land is severely damaged in Indonesia (Ministry of Forestry Indonesia (2009) = completely depleted function of: Water retention Erosion control Nutrient cycling Climate regulation Carbon accumulation

8 Conditions for Biochar Carbon Sequestration Is Biochar always the best option? Maximizing fuel use to avoid deforestation? biochar contains 50% of the C and 50% of the energy Alternative fuels?

9 Conditions for Biochar Carbon Sequestration A living tee can do more for the climate than biochar Conservation of the carbon stock Local soil protection and climate regulator

10 Conditions for Biochar Carbon Sequestration Biochar from alternative fuels distributed evenly in the landscape would not increase C and hardly impact soil fertility. Crop residues are in use

11 Palm Oil Sector

12 Palm Oil Sector Sheil et al. (2009) based on data from FAOSTAT

13 Palm Oil Sector Empty fruit bunches 1.55 Mg ha -1 yr -1 Fiber 1.63 Mg ha -1 yr -1 Shells 1.10 Mg ha -1 yr -1 (Yusoff 2006) Mg ha -1 yr -1 pruned fronds and 90 Mg ha -1 palm trunks and fronds at renovation, every 20 to 30 years (Yusoff 2006)

14 Generates 83,000 Mg yr -1 EFB A Mill with a capacity of 60 Mg FFB h -1

15 Palm Oil Sector waste biomass Accumulating biomass Nutrients leached and lost Diseases & pests Carbon released as CO 2 and CH 4

16 < 50% of the carbon used for energy production

17 CO 2 Biomass Biomass Biochar C1 Mg ha -1 yr -1 Mg ha -1 yr -1 Mg ha -1 yr -1 At the mill EFB 8% of FFB (dry weight) Fiber 8 % of FFB (dry weight) Shell 5.5% of FFB (dry weight) Total at the mill In the field Fronds Trunks Fronds and rachis Total inthe field Total (mill + field) Biomass data from Yusoff (2006) and Sheil et al. (2009). 1 Biochar-Carbon assuming a conversion efficiency of 30% and a mean carbon content of The dry weight of fronds from annual pruning, 3 every 25 years at renovation (75.5 and 14.4 Mg ha yrs -1 )

18 Palm Oil Sector nutrient cycling EFB 1 EFB 2 EFB Carbonized Compost 1 N (%) P (%) K (%) Ca (%) Mg (%) Table 2 Nutrient concentrations in EFB, carbonized EFB and EFB Compost 1 Source (Salétes et al. 2004b) co-composted with nutrient rich POME, 2 Carbonized at 500 C University of Georgia

19 Wood Plantations 7 yrs Acacia mangium 2 yrs Paraserianthes falcataria 2 yrs

20 Wood Plantations residues (8 yrs rotation) 56.4 Mg ha -1 (Hardiyanto et al. 2000) 28.2 Mg ha -1 suitable for biochar production (Okimori et al. 2003) 5640 Mg of biochar = 17,000 Mg CO ha yr -1 and a carbonization efficiency of 0.2, 0.7 Mg ha -1 yr -1 )

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22 Logging Concessions

23 Logging Concessions Dead Biomass Branches, stumps, and butt roots CL Biochar C RIL Biochar C Mg ha Destroyed trees Dead trees within 1 yr Lianas destroyed Understory plants Total Biomass data Pinard et al. 1996

24 Logging Concessions decomposing wood and regenerating forest Ecological functions of decomposing wood Relatively fast forest regeneration if undisturbed Biochar may create an incentive to increase the damage

25 Logging Concessions areas of degradation

26 Logging Concessions reforestation on problem areas

27 Slash and Char as Alternative to Slash and Burn Tropical forest conversion contribute 25% of the global CO 2 emissions. Palm et al. 2004, Environment, Development and Sustainability 1.31 Pg yr -1 (billion tons) of biomass is cleared in all secondary forests (fallow vegetation) Fearnside 2000, Climatic Change 0.2 Pg yr -1 of C could be offset if slash and burn is replaced by slash and char Lehmann et al. (2006) Photo: Steve Welch ~50% of C remains as charcoal ~2% of C remains as charcoal

28 Carbon Stock Soil Fertility Slash and Char carbon accumulation Sustainable Slash and Burn Slash and Char - linear Slash and Char - exponential Time (yrs)

29 Slash and Char changed nutrient and carbon cycle?

30 Slash and Char research results Increased yields with biochar Lehmann and Rondon 2006, Steiner et al 2007, Plant and Soil Increased retention of fertilized nitrogen = fertilization efficiency Lehmann et al 2003, and Steiner et al 2008 Reduced acidity Topoliantz et al 2005, Steiner et al 2007 Increased mineral nutrition (mainly K) Steiner et al 2007 Increased Cation Exchange Capacity Teixeira et al, unpublished

31 Biochar Production emissions of PIC Global Warming Potential (GWP) Emission Factors from Biomass Burning 1 GHG 20 yr 100 yr 500 yr Tropical Forest Charcoal Making Agricultural residues CO CH N 2 O Emission factors are given in gram species per kilogram dry matter burned. (Andreae and Merlet, 2001)

32 Slash and Char fallow biomass accumulation Lehmann et al Forest Age Woody Biomass Mg ha -1 Biochar Yield Mg C ha East Kalimantan 47 Mg dry matter in 6 years, Jepsen (2006)

33 7.7 Mg of CO 2 ha -1 yr -1 if slash-and-burn is replaced by slash-and-char 15 Mg of CO 2 ha -1 yr -1 if all available residues are carbonized in oil palm plantations 4.2 Mg of CO 2 ha -1 yr -1 if all available residues are carbonized in wood plantations and, Range from 66 to 136 Mg of CO 2 ha -1 if all available residues are carbonized after logging operations. Land Use System C sequestration potential Mg CO 2 ha -1 yr -1 Slash and Char 7.7 Oil Palm Plantations 15 Wood plantations 4.2

34 Charcoal Carbon Sequestration & and Carbon Trade

35 Biochar Carbon Sequestration Common LULUCF obstacles Additionality Permanence (in particular in a changing climate) Leakage Land tenure (in particular for fallow plots) Biochar advantage Biochar competes with charcoal Biochar is recalcitrant independent from climate and management Unlikely if only waste or wasted biomass is used Once in the soil it does not matter if ownership changes

36 How to provide access to carbon credits for small scale projects (small farmers)? Photo: Biocharfund

37 How to provide access to carbon credits for small scale projects (small farmers)? Aggregated transaction costs are currently averaging about $200,000 per project. (UNDP, CDM User s Guide)

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39 Slash and Char obstacles Monitoring Reporting Community monitoring as applied in REDD programs Verification Fertilizer in exchange for biochar? Income form agriculture not from carbon sequestration Implementation costs ex-ante-credits

40 Thanks to Supporters