University of Tasmania
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Operationalising net-zero with biochar: Black gold or red herring?

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posted on 2024-10-28, 04:37 authored by Franco Bilotto, Karen Christie-WhiteheadKaren Christie-Whitehead, Nicoli BarnesNicoli Barnes, Matthew HarrisonMatthew Harrison

Nascent anecdotal evidence implies that livestock feed supplementation with biochar may reduce enteric methane, improve liveweight gains and improve soil carbon through enrichment of manure. Here we dissect this hypothesis using a transdisciplinary participatory approach. We show that steers fed biochar ad libitum increased liveweight gain relative to non-supplemented controls (5% improvement after 14 months). At carbon prices of $25-75 Mg-1 CO 2-e and biochar costs of $2,000 Mg-1 , liveweight gains would need to be at least 5% greater than non-supplemented controls to be profitable. Profit per animal was more sensitive to liveweight gains compared with enteric methane mitigation, suggesting greater economic value in pursuing types of biochar that elicit a productivity co-benefit, rather than biochar for mitigation of enteric methane. Our modelling of industry adoption showed that peak adoption of biochar was 10-69% over 5-7 years, depending on perceived environmental benefits and ease of trialing. Through participatory discussions with farmers, we revealed multiple strengths (e.g. animal health co-benefits and recalcitrant properties of biochar in the soil), weaknesses (cost, knowledge requirements), opportunities (carbon markets, use in feedlots) and threats (potential antagonism with other feed additives, regulation) associated with biochar feed supplementation. We contend that livestock feed supplementation with biochar comprises a prospective pillar towards reducing agri-food GHG emissions in a sustainable way, and we recommend further research in this endeavor.

Funding

NEXUS project part 2: involve and partner activities : Meat and Livestock Australia | P.PSH.2134

History

Publication title

Trends in Food Science & Technology

Volume

150

Pagination

11

Department/School

TIA - Research Institute, Agriculture and Food Systems, Peter Underwood Centre for Educational Attainment

Publisher

ELSEVIER SCIENCE LONDON

Publication status

  • Published

Rights statement

© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Socio-economic Objectives

109902 Animal welfare, 100101 Management of gaseous waste from animal production (excl. greenhouse gases), 100413 Sheep for wool, 100412 Sheep for meat, 100599 Pasture, browse and fodder crops not elsewhere classified, 220106 Satellite technologies, networks and services, 170302 Carbon capture and storage, 190101 Climate change adaptation measures (excl. ecosystem), 190103 Social impacts of climate change and variability, 190102 Ecosystem adaptation to climate change, 190502 Climate variability (excl. social impacts), 190301 Climate change mitigation strategies, 190399 Mitigation of climate change not elsewhere classified, 159901 Carbon and emissions trading

UN Sustainable Development Goals

13 Climate Action, 13 Climate Action, 1 No Poverty, 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, 15 Life on Land, 2 Zero Hunger, 4 Quality Education, 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities