2017, Kern, Jürgen, Tammeorg, Priit, Shanskiy, Merrit, Sakrabani, Ruben, Knicker, Heike, Kammann, Claudia, Tuhkanen, Eeva-Maria, Smidt, Geerd, Prasad, Munoo, Tiilikkala, Kari, Sohi, Saran, Gascó, Gabriel, Steiner, Christoph, Glaser, Bruno

Peat is used as a high quality substrate for growing media in horticulture. However, unsustainable peat extraction damages peatland ecosystems, which disappeared to a large extent in Central and South Europe. Furthermore, disturbed peatlands are becoming a source of greenhouse gases due to drainage and excavation. This study is the result of a workshop within the EU COST Action TD1107 (Biochar as option for sustainable resource management), held in Tartu (Estonia) in 2015. The view of stakeholders were consulted on new biochar-based growing media and to what extent peat may be replaced in growing media by new compounds like carbonaceous materials from thermochemical conversion. First positive results from laboratory and greenhouse experiments have been reported with biochar content in growing media ranging up to 50%. Various companies have already started to use biochar as an additive in their growing media formulations. Biochar might play a more important role in replacing peat in growing media, when biochar is available, meets the quality requirements, and their use is economically feasible. © 2017 The Author(s) Published by VGTU Press and Informa UK Limited, [trading as Taylor & Francis Group].

2016, Bachmann, Hans Jörg, Bucheli, Thomas D., Dieguez-Alonso, Alba, Fabbri, Daniele, Knicker, Heike, Schmidt, Hans-Peter, Ulbricht, Axel, Becker, Roland, Buscaroli, Alessandro, Buerge, Diane, Cross, Andrew, Dickinson, Dane, Enders, Akio, Esteves, Valdemar I., Evangelou, Michael W.H., Fellet, Guido, Friedrich, Kevin, Gasco Guerrero, Gabriel, Glaser, Bruno, Hanke, Ulrich M., Hanley, Kelly, Hilber, Isabel, Kalderis, Dimitrios, Leifeld, Jens, Masek, Ondrej, Mumme, Jan, Paneque Carmona, Marina, Calvelo Pereira, Roberto, Rees, Frederic, Rombolà, Alessandro G., de la Rosa, José Maria, Sakrabani, Ruben, Sohi, Saran, Soja, Gerhard, Valagussa, Massimo, Verheijen, Frank, Zehetner, Franz

Biochar produced by pyrolysis of organic residues is increasingly used for soil amendment and many other applications. However, analytical methods for its physical and chemical characterization are yet far from being specifically adapted, optimized, and standardized. Therefore, COST Action TD1107 conducted an interlaboratory comparison in which 22 laboratories from 12 countries analyzed three different types of biochar for 38 physical–chemical parameters (macro- and microelements, heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pH, electrical conductivity, and specific surface area) with their preferential methods. The data were evaluated in detail using professional interlaboratory testing software. Whereas intralaboratory repeatability was generally good or at least acceptable, interlaboratory reproducibility was mostly not (20% < mean reproducibility standard deviation < 460%). This paper contributes to better comparability of biochar data published already and provides recommendations to improve and harmonize specific methods for biochar analysis in the future.