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Start date: 2020 × End date: 2019 × Start date: 2012 × DDC: 333.7 × Type: article × WGL Institute: ATB ×

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Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    Synergistic use of peat and charred material in growing media–an option to reduce the pressure on peatlands?
    (Vilnius : Technika, 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].
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    Representativeness of European biochar research: part II–pot and laboratory studies
    (Vilnius : Technika, 2017) Sakrabani, Ruben; Kern, Jürgen; Mankasingh, Utra; Zavalloni, Costanza; Zanchettin, Giulia; Bastos, Ana Catarina; Tammeorg, Priit; Jeffery, Simon; Glaser, Bruno; Verheijen, Frank G. A.
    Biochar research is extensive and there are many pot and laboratory studies carried out in Europe to investigate the mechanistic understanding that govern its impact on soil processes. A survey was conducted in order to find out how representative these studies under controlled experimental conditions are of actual environmental conditions in Europe and biomass availability and conversion technologies. The survey consisted of various key questions related to types of soil and biochar used, experimental conditions and effects of biochar additions on soil chemical, biological and physical properties. This representativeness study showed that soil texture and soil organic carbon contents used by researchers are well reflected in the current biochar research in Europe (through comparison with published literature), but less so for soil pH and soil type. This study provides scope for future work to complement existing research findings, avoiding unnecessary repetitions and highlighting existing research gaps. © 2017 The Author(s) Published by VGTU Press and Informa UK Limited, [trading as Taylor & Francis Group].
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    Editorial: special issue on biochar as an option for sustainable resource management (EU COST Action TD1107 final publication)
    (Vilnius : Technika, 2017) Glaser, Bruno; Baltrėnas, Pranas; Kammann, Claudia; Kern, Jürgen; Baltrėnaitė, Edita
    The articles appearing in this special issue on Biochar as an Option for Sustainable Resource Management are mainly the extended versions of the contributions presented in Biochar COST Action meetings, especially at the International Biochar conference held September 2015 at Geisenheim University (Germany), which was the final conference of the COST Action TD1107. © 2017 Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU) Press.
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    Water productivity of poultry production: The influence of different broiler fattening systems
    (Malden, Mass. : Wiley, 2015) Krauß, Michael; Keßler, Jens; Prochnow, Annette; Kraatz, Simone; Drastig, Katrin
    With the expected increase in poultry meat consumption water use will increase as well. The objective of this study is to quantify the effects of fattening systems on the water productivity in broiler chicken production with consideration given to conditions in Germany. Four fattening systems were analyzed in terms of water use for feed production, drinking, cleaning, and the parent stock. The fattening systems differed in intensity, ranging from fast fattening with a fattening period of 30 days and a carcass weight of 1.1 kg to slow fattening with a period up to 46 days and a carcass weight of 2.1 kg. During the fattening period the broiler chicken were fed with performance-linked feed. The water productivity of the feed components varied from 0.4 kg dry mass per m3 water input for soybean meal to 1.8 kg dry mass per m3 water input for maize. In all fattening systems the water input for feed production accounted for 90 to 93% of the total water input. The share for the parent stock was 7 to 10%, while drinking and cleaning water accounted for less than 1%. For all fattening systems the water productivity was 0.3 kg carcass weight per m3 water input, 2.8 MJ food energy per m3 water input and 57 g food protein per m3 water input. The shorter fattening period and lower feed demand in the more intensive fattening systems were juxtaposed to the higher carcass weight and higher water productivity of the feed components in the more extensive systems.
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    Representativeness of European biochar research: part I–field experiments
    (Vilnius : Technika, 2017) Verheijen, Frank G. A.; Mankasingh, Utra; Penizek, Vit; Panzacchi, Pietro; Glaser, Bruno; Jeffery, Simon; Bastos, Ana Catarina; Tammeorg, Priit; Kern, Jürgen; Zavalloni, Costanza; Zanchettin, Giulia; Sakrabani, Ruben
    A representativeness survey of existing European Biochar field experiments within the Biochar COST Action TD1107 was conducted to gather key information for setting up future experiments and collaborations, and to minimise duplication of efforts amongst European researchers. Woody feedstock biochar, applied without organic or inorganic fertiliser appears over-represented compared to other categories, especially considering the availability of crop residues, manures, and other organic waste streams and the efforts towards achieving a zero waste economy. Fertile arable soils were also over-represented while shallow unfertile soils were under-represented. Many of the latter are likely in agroforestry or forest plantation land use. The most studied theme was crop production. However, other themes that can provide evidence of mechanisms, as well as potential undesired side-effects, were relatively well represented. Biochar use for soil contamination remediation was the least represented theme; further work is needed to identify which specific contaminants, or mixtures of contaminants, have the potential for remediation by different biochars. © 2017 The Author(s) Published by VGTU Press and Informa UK Limited, [trading as Taylor & Francis Group].
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    Biochar as a tool to reduce the agricultural greenhouse-gas burden–knowns, unknowns and future research needs
    (Vilnius : Technika, 2017) Kammann, Claudia; Ippolito, Jim; Hagemann, Nikolas; Borchard, Nils; Cayuela, Maria Luz; Estavillo, José M.; Fuertes-Mendizabal, Teresa; Jeffery, Simon; Kern, Jürgen; Novak, Jeff; Rasse, Daniel; Saarnio, Sanna; Schmidt, Hans-Peter; Spokas, Kurt; Wrage-Mönnig, Nicole
    Agriculture and land use change has significantly increased atmospheric emissions of the non-CO2 green-house gases (GHG) nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). Since human nutritional and bioenergy needs continue to increase, at a shrinking global land area for production, novel land management strategies are required that reduce the GHG footprint per unit of yield. Here we review the potential of biochar to reduce N2O and CH4 emissions from agricultural practices including potential mechanisms behind observed effects. Furthermore, we investigate alternative uses of biochar in agricultural land management that may significantly reduce the GHG-emissions-per-unit-of-product footprint, such as (i) pyrolysis of manures as hygienic alternative to direct soil application, (ii) using biochar as fertilizer carrier matrix for underfoot fertilization, biochar use (iii) as composting additive or (iv) as feed additive in animal husbandry or for manure treatment. We conclude that the largest future research needs lay in conducting life-cycle GHG assessments when using biochar as an on-farm management tool for nutrient-rich biomass waste streams. © 2017 The Author(s) Published by VGTU Press and Informa UK Limited, [trading as Taylor & Francis Group].
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    Governing Transactions and Interdependences between Linked Value Chains in a Circular Economy: The Case of Wastewater Reuse in Braunschweig (Germany)
    (Basel : MDPI, 2018-4-9) Maaß, Oliver; Grundmann, Philipp
    Reusing wastewater in agriculture has attracted increasing attention as a strategy to support the transition towards the circular economy in the water and agriculture sector. As a consequence, there is great interest in solutions for governing the transactions and interdependences between the associated value chains. This paper explores the institutions and governance structures for coordinating transactions and interdependences between actors in linked value chains of wastewater treatment and crop production. It aims to analyze how transactions and interdependences shape the governance structures for reusing wastewater at the local level. A transaction costs analysis based on data from semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire is applied to the agricultural wastewater reuse scheme of the Wastewater Association Braunschweig (Germany). The results show that different governance structures are needed to match with the different properties and requirements of the transactions and activities between linked value chains of wastewater treatment and crop production. Interdependences resulting from transactions between wastewater providers and farmers increase the need for hybrid and hierarchical elements in the governance structures for wastewater reuse. The authors conclude that aligning governance structures with transactions and interdependences is key to efficiently governing transactions and interdependences between linked value chains in a circular economy. © 2018 by the authors.
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    Land-use futures in the shared socio-economic pathways
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2017) Popp, Alexander; Calvin, Katherine; Fujimori, Shinichiro; Havlik, Petr; Humpenöder, Florian; Stehfest, Elke; Bodirsky, Benjamin Leon; Dietrich, Jan Philipp; Doelmann, Jonathan C.; Gusti, Mykola; Hasegawa, Tomoko; Kyle, Page; Obersteiner, Michael; Tabeau, Andrzej; Takahashi, Kiyoshi; Valin, Hugo; Waldhoff, Stephanie; Weindl, Isabelle; Wise, Marshall; Kriegler, Elmar; Lotze-Campen, Hermann; Fricko, Oliver; Riahi, Keywan; Vuuren, Detlef P. van
    In the future, the land system will be facing new intersecting challenges. While food demand, especially for resource-intensive livestock based commodities, is expected to increase, the terrestrial system has large potentials for climate change mitigation through improved agricultural management, providing biomass for bioenergy, and conserving or even enhancing carbon stocks of ecosystems. However, uncertainties in future socio-economic land use drivers may result in very different land-use dynamics and consequences for land-based ecosystem services. This is the first study with a systematic interpretation of the Shared Socio-Economic Pathways (SSPs) in terms of possible land-use changes and their consequences for the agricultural system, food provision and prices as well as greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, five alternative Integrated Assessment Models with distinctive land-use modules have been used for the translation of the SSP narratives into quantitative projections. The model results reflect the general storylines of the SSPs and indicate a broad range of potential land-use futures with global agricultural land of 4900 mio ha in 2005 decreasing by 743 mio ha until 2100 at the lower (SSP1) and increasing by 1080 mio ha (SSP3) at the upper end. Greenhouse gas emissions from land use and land use change, as a direct outcome of these diverse land-use dynamics, and agricultural production systems differ strongly across SSPs (e.g. cumulative land use change emissions between 2005 and 2100 range from −54 to 402 Gt CO2). The inclusion of land-based mitigation efforts, particularly those in the most ambitious mitigation scenarios, further broadens the range of potential land futures and can strongly affect greenhouse gas dynamics and food prices. In general, it can be concluded that low demand for agricultural commodities, rapid growth in agricultural productivity and globalized trade, all most pronounced in a SSP1 world, have the potential to enhance the extent of natural ecosystems, lead to lowest greenhouse gas emissions from the land system and decrease food prices over time. The SSP-based land use pathways presented in this paper aim at supporting future climate research and provide the basis for further regional integrated assessments, biodiversity research and climate impact analysis. © 2016 The Authors