FOREBIOM Book is available / book presentation

Posted by Viktor Bruckman on November 23rd, 2016


As indicated in the "status" section, the main outcome of this project is represented by an edited book volume with the title "Biochar: A Regional Supply Chain Approach in View of Climate Change Mitigation". The last months were dedicated to work on this volume, comprising of 18 chapters in 4 main sections. Almost 60 authors from 14 nations from around the globe contributed to this comprehensive assessment. The book is published with Cambridge University Press, where it perfectly fits to the entire portfolio (IPCC reports etc.) We are happy to announce that the book is available now. Please visit the publisher's website to retrieve more details.

The book was officially launched at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, on Monday, 21st of November 2016. The agenda consisted of an opening remark by Verena Winiwarter, chair of the Commission for interdisciplinary Ecological Studies and full member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, followed by six presentations delivered by editors, authors of the book and an external specialist. All presentations are available for download at the FOREBIOM Book website.

 

Preliminary results from  experimental plot available!

Posted by Viktor Bruckman on March 14, 2016


We would like to inform you that we have published preliminary results from our experimental research plot, located in the northern part of Austria, near Weitra. The report summarizes findings with regard to the priming effect of biochar followed by an application of 10 t/ha pure biochar directly on the forest floor. More detailed results will be published here in 2016 as analysis of data is under way. These results were presented during the General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union, on 16.04.2015, in session "Sustainable biomass for raw materials, energy and GHG mitigation".

Presentation at IUFRO 2014

Download the paper titled "Biochar for Climate Change Mitigation: Tracing the in-situ Priming Effect on a Forest Site" (open access) here: I Energy Procedia 76, pp 381-387

 

Download the 2nd FOREBIOM CC Report!

Posted by Viktor Bruckman on March 14, 2016


We are happy to announce that the 2nd CC Report has been published by IUFRO. The CC Turkey presents the potential of biochar for Climate Change Mitigation with a strong focus on forestry. It is available for download within the IUFRO Occasional paper series, volume 27.

Presentation at IUFRO 2014

Download full report here: I Country Case Report Austria

ISBN: 978-3-902762-34-4, ISSN: 1024-414X

 

Presentation at IUFRO 2014, Salt Lake City, UT

Posted by Viktor Bruckman on October 23, 2014


Preliminary results were presented recently at the 24th IUFRO World Congress, held in Salt Lake City, UT, USA. The presentation took place in session E-01 (Sustainable Biomass for Energy and Industrial Raw Materials: Biomass Potentials), organized by Viktor J. Bruckman, coordinator of the FOREBIOM project. Nicola Gilbert, Msc. student of the University of Northern British Columbia, tried to wrap up the first oral block of the session, and in specific, the presentation about biochar, in his blog.

Presentation at IUFRO 2014

One of the major new findings presented at the conference is the Time Lapse Video, compiled from pictures taken during summer 3013, observing biochar surface erosion. It revealed that both wind and precipitation (heavy rainfall

events) contribute to surface erosion in the first 1-2 months.
The entire presentation is available in PDF format here: [download slides]

 

The 1st FOREBIOM CC Report is online!

Posted by Viktor Bruckman on September 09, 2014


One of the project's aims is to publish dedicated Country Case Reports (CCR's). The aim is to specificly report about the potentials of biochar production and utilization in view of climate change mitigation in the respective project member countries. Moreover it provides a review about the current state of biochar research in the respective country and lists contacts to research groups.

WS3 group

The country case reports are published with our official partner institution, the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO). This will ensure maximum possible dissemination across scientists and policy makers, who are among the primary target groups for the CCR's. It is published in the IUFRO Occasional Paper Series, Vol. 27. Download full report here: I Country Case Report Austria

ISBN: 978-3-902762-34-4, ISSN: 1024-414X

Read More

The 3rd FOREBIOM Workshop in Eskişehir, Turkey

Posted by Viktor Bruckman on June 30, 2014


Global warming and climate change issues are the most essential problems to be solved out. Reforestation, or planting of new forests, have been suggested as a carbon sink for tackling climate change and global warming by sequestrating carbon dioxide. Another important potential solution for the mitigation of climate change is to use biochar as a soil amendment in forest areas. Development of inexpensive, scalable and widely applicable pyrolysis technologies is also very important to have feasible and sustainable biochar production for soil amendment, carbon sequestration, energy production etc. In these scopes, this last FOREBIOM workshop aims to bring different disciplines together and discuss the potential of forestry biomass and efficient ways of biochar production via pyrolysis for the mitigation of climate change, soil amendment and energy utilization. Moreover, the workshop served as a platform for intensive discussions, exchanging ideas, and promoted awareness on our project results and the latest research in the respective areas.

WS3 group

With 17 speakers in four scientific sessions, the workshop covered the major topics:

- Mitigation of Climate Change
- Thermochemical Conversion Technologies
- Pyrolysis and Biochar and
- Biochar and Soil

Organizers as well as participants are highly satisfied with the results of the workshop that also aimed to build bridges in scientific research between Europe and Asia.

Read More

Research visit 3 in Turkey

Posted by Viktor Bruckman on July 30, 2014


The FOREBIOM project consortium met a third time for joint scientific practical work at Anadolu University, Eskişehir in Turkey. During the laboratory work, participants were able to learn about different pyrolysis reactors and their influence on resulting products (bio-oil and biochar), as well as their characterization, using stlandard methods (TG-FTIR-MS, GC, SEM, BET, water holding capacity, elemental analysis etc.). Subsequently the gained results were assessed and a concept note for a scientific publication was prepared in order to disseminate the results among the scientific community.

Read More

The 2nd FOREBIOM Workshop in Busan

Posted by Viktor Bruckman on March 10, 2014


The 2nd FOREBIOM Workshop (Busan, South Korea, 13.-14.02.2014) brings together researchers and practitioners to discuss recent developments in the forest biomass production and its use for energy and other products. Both theory and applications will be covered on topics such as
1. Sustainable biomass production
2. Sustainable energy production from biomass
3. Thermochemical conversion of biomass to energy and other products
4. Use of biochar (including soil applications)

WS2 group photo

With 13 speakers from five countries (focus on Asia), the second workshop was a success and continuation of the great acivements of the FOREBIOM project. Various opportunities for in-depth discussions were provided by the organizers and gratefully acknowledged by the conference participants.

Read More

Research visit 1 in Austria

Posted by Viktor Bruckman on July 18, 2013


The FOREBIOM project consortium met up in Vienna from July 08 - July 18, 2013 to discuss general project milestones and further actions and in specific, to learn about methods commonly used in forest soil sciences. Scientific research was jointly conducted in the lab and in the field at our experimental forest plots near Weitra in Lower Austria. Our focus was to learn from each other and to share experiences with various environmental methods. Our professional project partner Sonnenerde was visited to understand the production conditions of the biochar used for the field experiment.

Read More

The 1st FOREBIOM Workshop in Vienna

Posted by Viktor Bruckman on May 7, 2013


From April 4th to 5th, the Austrian Academy of Sciences hosted the first FOREBIOM Workshop in Vienna. Around 50 experts from more than 10 nations participated and contributed their recent research to this event. Day one was reserved for presentations which were then intensively discussed on day two in order to identify potentials and challenges for utilizing Biochar to mitigate Climate Change. Group discussions were scheduled for the second day in order to summarize key findings of the lectures, to assess the potentials of biochar to mitigate climate change and to develop strategies for further biochar research. The organizers were very satisfied with the active participation and lively discussions which represent a basis for the respective country report.

Download conference proceedings

Read More

Welcome to the FOREBIOM Project

Posted by Viktor Bruckman on December 7, 2012


FOREBIOM is the acronym for a holistic scientific project aiming at international cooperation in the field of Green Technology. The project consortium consisting of partners from Austria, South Korea and Turkey proposes an approach where carbon is sequestered while utilizing biomass as feedstock for energetic utilization. The holistic systems approach ensures detailed considerations on potentials and sustainability of individual steps during biomass production and utilization.


Biochar plays a main role as it can be used as a filter medium (activated carbon) and subsequently applied on agriculture/forest land in order to improve fertility and hence carbon sequestration. However, there are several knowledge gaps concerning sustainable biomass production, biochar production and soil amendment.
The anticipated outcome consists of detailed country reports for consortia member-countries where potentials and risks of coupled bioenergy and biochar production will be highlighted with emphasis on ecological, social and economical sustainability.

Read More

Partner Institutions

partner institution logos
logos Sonnenerde Austrian Academy of Sciences International Union of Forest Research OrganizationsAnadolu University Pukyong National University