Novel Materials and Methods to Increase Soil Carbon

The overall goals of the proposed project is to synergistically address three keyopportunities/challenges in the agricultural sector: 1) reduce CO2 emissions from biomassprocessing and reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations 2) transform existing biomass-derivedwaste streams into value-added products and 3) increase soil carbon and improve soil healthThe supporting objectives are to 1) demonstrate technical viability of accelerated CO2 capture byhybrid sorbents (e.g. derived from biomass ash) via mineral carbonation reducing reaction timesseveral orders of magnitude 2) generate partially carbonated materials from the above (PCAR)with high surface area and a strong chemical affinity 3) validate the performance ofPCAR as asoil amendment for additional CO2 capture in the soil retaining moisture and adsorbing dissolvedorganic carbon and inorganic nutrients.The proposed work plan is divided into three tasks: 1) laboratory-scale equipment procurement andassembly for testing accelerated CO2 capture; acquisition and characterization of inputs (e.g.biomass ash Ca/Mg silicates) for making hybrid sorbents 2) Proof-of-concept testing ofaccelerated mineral carbonation for point-source CO2 capture to form PCARs. Enabling reactionenvironment and sorbent treatment steps will be identified. Carbonation products will becharacterized to determine surface area enhancement. 3) PCARs will be used as soil amendmentsand tested for additional CO2 capture in soil in-situ and for adsorption of nutrients and dissolvedorganic carbon.The project will establish proof-of-concept ofa novel method for capture and mineralization ofCO2 released from biomass processing and use of the resultant materials assoil amendments forincreasing soil carbon.