We are constantly working to reduce greenhouse gases here at the Zero Emission Farm in Mære. One of the experiments that has been carried out in this field is about biochar and manure. We asked ourselves: Can we make a cover of biochar in the manure storage and thus reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
The experiments conducted by NIBIO here at Mære show that biochar significantly reduced methane emissions by 28 %, but only when it was kept artificially floating on the surface using a floating membrane. So the answer is to some extent yes: Under specific conditions, biochar can reduce greenhouse gases.
See more about the experiment in this film:
Facts about the experiment:
The experiment was conducted by Adam o'Toole in NIBIO and is one of the activities in RESTORE where we look at different ways of handling organic waste. Here, Mære collaborates with SINTEF, NGI and NIBIO. We would like to point out that this film was recorded while the experiment was ongoing in 2022 and that Adam no longer works at NIBIO. We wish him good luck in new projects in his home country of Australia!
The experiment in short and text version by researcher Adam o'Toole:
In the RESTORE project, NIBIO has tested different setups with biochar (made from pine) as a floating cover material for reducing methane from pig manure over a 75-day period in the summer of 2022. Biochar significantly reduced methane emissions by 28%, but only when it was kept artificially floating on the surface using a floating membrane. In contrast to a previous study from abroad, we did not find in our study that biochar that settles led to additional methane emissions. We also found that CO2 emissions were significantly reduced with the biochar filter. N2O emissions were minimal and not significant between treatments. The next step will be to clarify whether a biochar methane filter can be optimized so that it also mitigates NH3 emissions, which is also problematic with livestock manure. This is a question that NIBIO is taking further in a new project "Agricascade" that includes Trondheim biochar producer JordPro AS.
You can read the research report in its entirety here: https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3083864
