They develop a biofertilizer that nourishes the soil and captures carbon

11/02/2016

With the development of a biofertilizer that nourishes the soil and captures carbon, Ramón Agustín Bacre González, a former student of the master's degree in Earth Sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), won one of the 10 Innovative awards under the 35 Mexico 2015, Spanish edition of the MIT Technology Review of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT for its acronym in English).

The technology developed by the university is based on biochar, a variety of the mineral obtained by the stabilization of organic matter by the pyrolysis method, a type of incineration caused by oxygen-free heating, which chemically decomposes organic matter to recover nutrients and carbon.

"With pyrolysis, organic matter is transformed molecularly; lignin, cellulose and other forms of biomass are converted to complex molecules composed, for the most part, of aromatic rings in biochar or biochar. The latter acquires properties, such as a large specific surface and porosity, which are suitable for the soil, both for plant productivity and for the growth of microorganisms. ”, he explained.

The innovative part of the technology, he continued, is that it stabilizes and sequesters the carbon contained in the biomass. "The lignin and original cellulose forms become difficult to degrade in the soil, thus retains the carbon and, at the same time, improve soil properties in a natural way, such as structure, aeration and exchange of nutrients. In addition to the already stabilized carbon can last from hundreds to thousands of years in those soils ”.

To give it more efficiency, the biocarbon is inoculated with microorganisms that improve the ability to fertilize the soil. "It becomes a microhabitat to cultivate beneficial fungi and nitrifying bacteria, or to promote mechanisms of nitrogen fixation".

The principle of this idea is old and was exploited in the Amazon jungle, where the ancient settlers applied carbon stabilized in the soil, so they formed very fertile and healthy known as terra preta.

Among the benefits of biochar, Bacre stressed that it strengthens an important fraction of the soil.“From the physical-chemical point of view, it gives structure, allows better moisture retention, aeration; promotes the exchange of nutrients and regulates pH, which are many advantages ", He said.

Another is that the product may include certain ingredients that give specific qualities or tailored suits for different types of soils, for example dry or eroded.

Source: Ibero-American Agency for the Diffusion of Science and Technology