Production of Biochar from Date Palm Fronds and its Effects on Soil Properties

Production of Biochar from Date Palm Fronds and its Effects on Soil Properties

Mohamed A. Badawi

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Abstract. The UAE has the largest number of date palm trees in the Arab world, there are about 42 million date palm trees. Each tree generates about 15 kilograms (kg) of waste biomass annually, totaling 600 million kg of green waste. Converting date palm waste into biochar can reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions generated by the natural decomposition or through burning of the waste. Biomass produced from date palm trees can’t be composted easily in normal composting process due to its high content of lignocellulose compound, while the biochar production can be the option to generate both energy and soil conditioner for the improvement of sandy soil under the gulf countries severe climate. Biochar is one of the most stable biologically produced carbon sources that can be added to soil. It processes agricultural waste into a soil enhancer that improves soil fertility, saves water, helps to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and fight global warming. The United Arab Emirates has sandy soil with very low water and nutrient holding capacities, using biochar improved its soil WHC, and biological activities. In this paper we did several trials to evaluate the produced biochar from date palm tree green wastes as a soil conditioner in sandy soil. Research has been undertaken in a pilot plant of 200-liter capacity. The produced biochar (25% w/w) of raw materials was used as a soil conditioner for sandy soil. The soil physical, chemical and biological properties were tested in pot experiment with different mixing ratios and the results showed better improvements in its properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of biochar and organic soil amendments on soil physicochemical and microbial load, carbon sequestration potential.

Keywords
biochar, date palm wastes, soil conditioning

Published online 4/20/2019, 10 pages
Copyright © 2019 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA

Citation: Mohamed A. Badawi, Production of Biochar from Date Palm Fronds and its Effects on Soil Properties, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 11, pp 159-168, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644900178-11

The article was published as article 11 of the book By-Products of Palm Trees and Their Applications

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.

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