A Study of Burcucumber Biochars to Remediate Soil Pb Considering GWP (Global Warming Potential)

Biochar, a by-product from pyrolysis of biomass, is a promising option to mitigate climate change by increasing soil carbon sequestration. This material is also considered to have potential to remediate a soil with heavy metal pollution by increasing the soil's adsorptive capacity. This study conducted the assessment of two biochars considering the climate change mitigation potential and heavy metal removal capacity at the same time. Two kinds of biochars (BC_Ch, TW_Ch) were prepared by pyrolyzing the biomass of burcucumber (BC_Bm) and tea waste (TW_Bm). The soils polluted with Pb were mixed with biochars or biomass and incubated for 60 d. During the incubation, CO2, CH4, and N2O were regularly measured and the soil before and after incubation was analyzed for chemical and biological parameters including the acetate extractable Pb. The results showed that only the BC_Ch treatment significantly reduced the amount of Pb after 60 d incubation. During the incubation, the CO2 and N2O emissions from the BC_Ch and TW_Ch were decreased by 24% and 34% compared to the BC_Bm and TW_Bm, respectively. The CH4 emissions were not significantly affected by biochar treatments. We calculated the GWP considering the production of amendment materials, application to the soils, removal of Pb, and soil carbon storage. The BC_Ch treatment had the most negative value because it had the higher Pb adsorption and soil carbon sequestration. Our results imply that if we apply biochar made from burcucumber, we could expect the pollution reduction and climate change mitigation at the same time.