The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a low-cost and easily manufactered modified biochar that adsorbs plant nutrients and can also be used in soil amendment and to remediate agriculture…

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded a $174,746 Project Grant under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program (CFDA 10.212) to Glanris Water Systems Inc., a for-profit manufacturer, to develop a low-cost, easily manufactured modified biochar that can adsorb plant nutrients. The goal is to use this biochar to remediate agricultural runoff and wastewater, removing harmful phosphate and nitrate, while also providing a slow-release fertilizer for crops. The project leverages a sustainable agricultural waste product, rice husk, to create biochar that sequesters carbon and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Funding will also support educational opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students at Mississippi State University.

The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a low-cost and easily manufactered modified biochar that adsorbs plant nutrients and can also be used in soil amendment and to remediate agriculture industry-induced dead-zones in receiving waters by removing phosphate and nitrate from agricultural runoff and wastewater streams.discharges of nutrients from soil and wastewater into waterways can result in dead zones in the water environment. This proposal would deploy an agricultural waste, rice husk, that has been converted to biochar which is similar to charcoal but has been chemically enhanced to adsorb potentially damaging nutrients before discharge to the environment. The chemistries to modifythe biochar have been developed by mississippi state university and will be the jumping-off point for developing modification chemistries. The nutrients, primarily nitrogen and phosphorous, once adsorbed onto the biochar could be incorporated into the soil environment. Under the right conditionsit would act as slow-release fertilizer for crops thus eliminating the need for commercial, mined and imported fertilizers. Conversion of biomass to biochar removes carbon from the atmosphere, resulting in stable carbon that won't break down for hundreds to thousands of years thus reducing greenhouse gasses that lead to climate change. The modified biochar can be used as a soil amendment to prevent nutrient runoff, wastewater treatment to remove nutrients from the wastewater prior to entering the receiving water body, as well as many more applications.rice husk biochar is a sustainable product that achieves numerous united nations (UN) sustainability goals. Rice is the secondmost produced crop in the world producing more than 150 million metric tonnes of rice hulls annually. This agricultural waste is often left to ROT or burnin the field contributing to carbon dioxide (CO2) greenhouse gas emissions which ultimately contribute to global warming. The production of biochar pulls carbon from the normal carbon cycle and sequesters IT which reduces greenhouse gas emissions. The UN ipcc sixth assessment report estimates that the production and use of biochar could mitigate between 1.8 to 4.1 billion metric tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere per year. The glanris biocarbon® biochar pyrolysis process sequesters about 50% of the CO2 that would be emitted to the atmosphere if rice huskswere burnt. The glanris rhbc is commercially available, certified by the international biochar initiative (IBI) as an IBI certified biochar, and provides carbon credits via puro & bull; earth (https://puro.earth). Thus, glanris rhbc provides a sustainable media option with available carbon credits resulting in a sustainable product with a reduced carbon footprint.funding from this grant will be used to create education opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students at mississippi state university.