Is sustainability certification for biochar the answer to environmental risks?
Biochar has the potential to make a major contribution to the mitigation of climate change, and enhancement of plant production. However, in order for biochar to fulfill this promise, the industry and regulating bodies must take steps to manage potential environmental threats and address negative pe...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Embrapa Informação Tecnológica
2012-05-01
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| Series: | Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-204X2012000500002&lng=en&tlng=en |
| _version_ | 1818143149938180096 |
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| author | Annette L. Cowie Adriana E. Downie Brendan H. George Bhupinder-Pal Singh Lukas Van Zwieten Deborah O'Connell |
| author_facet | Annette L. Cowie Adriana E. Downie Brendan H. George Bhupinder-Pal Singh Lukas Van Zwieten Deborah O'Connell |
| author_sort | Annette L. Cowie |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Biochar has the potential to make a major contribution to the mitigation of climate change, and enhancement of plant production. However, in order for biochar to fulfill this promise, the industry and regulating bodies must take steps to manage potential environmental threats and address negative perceptions. The potential threats to the sustainability of biochar systems, at each stage of the biochar life cycle, were reviewed. We propose that a sustainability framework for biochar could be adapted from existing frameworks developed for bioenergy. Sustainable land use policies, combined with effective regulation of biochar production facilities and incentives for efficient utilization of energy, and improved knowledge of biochar impacts on ecosystem health and productivity could provide a strong framework for the development of a robust sustainable biochar industry. Sustainability certification could be introduced to provide confidence to consumers that sustainable practices have been employed along the production chain, particularly where biochar is traded internationally. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T11:27:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-30d611486126423dbf55eb10d7c59de3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1678-3921 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T11:27:05Z |
| publishDate | 2012-05-01 |
| publisher | Embrapa Informação Tecnológica |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira |
| spelling | doaj.art-30d611486126423dbf55eb10d7c59de32022-12-22T01:08:58ZengEmbrapa Informação TecnológicaPesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira1678-39212012-05-0147563764810.1590/S0100-204X2012000500002S0100-204X2012000500002Is sustainability certification for biochar the answer to environmental risks?Annette L. Cowie0Adriana E. DownieBrendan H. George1Bhupinder-Pal SinghLukas Van Zwieten2Deborah O'ConnellUniversity of New EnglandUniversity of New EnglandUniversity of New EnglandBiochar has the potential to make a major contribution to the mitigation of climate change, and enhancement of plant production. However, in order for biochar to fulfill this promise, the industry and regulating bodies must take steps to manage potential environmental threats and address negative perceptions. The potential threats to the sustainability of biochar systems, at each stage of the biochar life cycle, were reviewed. We propose that a sustainability framework for biochar could be adapted from existing frameworks developed for bioenergy. Sustainable land use policies, combined with effective regulation of biochar production facilities and incentives for efficient utilization of energy, and improved knowledge of biochar impacts on ecosystem health and productivity could provide a strong framework for the development of a robust sustainable biochar industry. Sustainability certification could be introduced to provide confidence to consumers that sustainable practices have been employed along the production chain, particularly where biochar is traded internationally.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-204X2012000500002&lng=en&tlng=enmudanças climáticasavaliação do ciclo de vidagerenciamento de riscogerenciamento sustentável da terra |
| spellingShingle | Annette L. Cowie Adriana E. Downie Brendan H. George Bhupinder-Pal Singh Lukas Van Zwieten Deborah O'Connell Is sustainability certification for biochar the answer to environmental risks? Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira mudanças climáticas avaliação do ciclo de vida gerenciamento de risco gerenciamento sustentável da terra |
| title | Is sustainability certification for biochar the answer to environmental risks? |
| title_full | Is sustainability certification for biochar the answer to environmental risks? |
| title_fullStr | Is sustainability certification for biochar the answer to environmental risks? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Is sustainability certification for biochar the answer to environmental risks? |
| title_short | Is sustainability certification for biochar the answer to environmental risks? |
| title_sort | is sustainability certification for biochar the answer to environmental risks |
| topic | mudanças climáticas avaliação do ciclo de vida gerenciamento de risco gerenciamento sustentável da terra |
| url | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-204X2012000500002&lng=en&tlng=en |
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