I'm a student of Environmental Engineering and i'm writing a thesis on the Urban Biorefinery. The biochar derived by the pyrolysis conversion of the solid fraction of digestate of OFMSW results rich in Heavy Metals, and i'm thinking about a possibility of using that as soil improver for the Vetiver's cultivation that has a great capacity of adsorbing heavy metal.
In my opinion it could represent a barrier against a possible heavy metal's leaching in the soil.
Thanks in advance for your kind reply.
You will still have the problem of dealing with the metals in the harvested plants (not to mention the impact of residual metals in the soil). The question is - which form of the metals poses the least threat to the environment. Are the metals in the biochar best disposed of as they are (possibly in a stable form) or do you release them into the soil (where they will likely impact on the soil microbial community and soil health) and hope that the vetiver takes up the metals (and that in this form they are more manageable than in the original biochar). or the question might be - does the metal content of the biochar out weigh the apparent benefits of "biochar" on soil quality?
Have a look here too..
http://www.vetiver.org/TVN_Vetiver_biochar_finalL.pdf
http://www.biogeosciences.net/11/6613/2014/bg-11-6613-2014.pdf
What you propose to do with the vetiver biomass?Where and how you dispose the material rich in heavy metals?Will it remain in the place where it is planted?As I understand vetiver is used in the waste lands,sand dunes and slopy lands,not on agricultural lands.I compliment Dr.Surender Singh for attaching very interesting presentations on vetiver.
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