TY - JOUR
T1 - Biochar production potential in Ghana - A review
AU - Duku, Moses Hensley
AU - Gu, Sai
AU - Hagan, Essel Ben
N1 - Funding Information:
The research is supported by the Leverhulme-Royal Society African Award and the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) grant: EP/G034281/1 .
PY - 2011/10
Y1 - 2011/10
N2 - Biochar is being promoted for its potential to improve soil properties, crop productivity and carbon sequestration in soil. Obstacles that may hinder rapid adoption of biochar production systems include technology and production costs, and feedstock availability. In this paper, a review of biochar production potential in Ghana is given. The availability of potential feedstock for biochar production such as agricultural residues, forestry residues, wood processing waste, the organic portion of municipal solid waste and livestock manure, together with a brief description of biomass conversion routes for biochar production is also given. Furthermore, potential agronomic and environmental benefits that can be derived from the application of biochar in soils are discussed. It is concluded that the large availability of biomass resources in Ghana gives a great potential for biochar production in the country.
AB - Biochar is being promoted for its potential to improve soil properties, crop productivity and carbon sequestration in soil. Obstacles that may hinder rapid adoption of biochar production systems include technology and production costs, and feedstock availability. In this paper, a review of biochar production potential in Ghana is given. The availability of potential feedstock for biochar production such as agricultural residues, forestry residues, wood processing waste, the organic portion of municipal solid waste and livestock manure, together with a brief description of biomass conversion routes for biochar production is also given. Furthermore, potential agronomic and environmental benefits that can be derived from the application of biochar in soils are discussed. It is concluded that the large availability of biomass resources in Ghana gives a great potential for biochar production in the country.
KW - Agricultural crop residues
KW - Biochar
KW - Carbon sequestration
KW - Soil fertility
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79960229621&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.rser.2011.05.010
DO - 10.1016/j.rser.2011.05.010
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:79960229621
SN - 1364-0321
VL - 15
SP - 3539
EP - 3551
JO - Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
JF - Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
IS - 8
ER -
