Biochar’s Climate Promise Depends on Soil Type: Cuts N₂O in Dry Fields but Boosts It in Rice Paddies

Biochar's Climate Promise Depends on Soil Type: Cuts N₂O in Dry Fields but Boosts It in Rice Paddies

Newswise — By tracing the exact microbial pathways responsible for N₂O production, the scientists reveal why the same soil amendment produces opposite climate outcomes under different land uses. Nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 265 times that of carbon dioxide over 100 years and is now the leading ozone-depleting substance in the 21st century. Agricultural nitrogen fertilization is its dominant source, par…

Biochar’s Climate Promise Depends on Soil Type: Cuts N₂O in Dry Fields but Boosts It in Rice Paddies

A research team has uncovered strikingly different effects of biochar on nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from acidic agricultural soils, showing that while biochar can significantly reduce emissions in upland fields, it may sharply increase them in flooded paddy soils.