Purpose

This communication aims to foster the integration of biorefinery and soil management for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Methods

The latest advances in biomass waste utilization and soil quality improvement are reviewed, based on which we identify the opportunity of bridging the two research areas and suggest strategic approaches for mutual benefits to waste management and soil amendment.

Results and discussion

Globally, large amounts of biomass wastes from agricultural residues and food supply chains are produced each year. Thermochemical conversion of biomass wastes into macro-biopolymeric materials such as biochar can be applied as soil amendment to mediate soil acidity, increase water holding capacity, modify soil biota and retain nutrients, thus improving soil health and crop yield. The economic feasibility has been demonstrated in the literature and can be further improved by designing more cost-effective biochar. In addition, fine chemicals including valuable organic substances (e.g. succinic acid as pesticide) as well as nutrients (e.g. phosphorous) can be obtained from biomass wastes via fractionation/extraction and thermochemical or biological upgrading. Compared with biochar, bio-derived chemicals as soil additives are less explored and present an untapped potential in the massive market for agricultural utilization. The application of waste-derived products in the food supply chain demands rigorous quality assurance/control for compliance with safety-related legislation.

Conclusions

The two approaches of agricultural waste valorization fall in the production of macro-size materials and fine chemicals, which can be coordinated by integrating complementary technologies, to offer benefits of maximal utilization of wastes as resources and high carbon recovery. A new scenario is expected to feature collaborations between biorefinery experts, environmental/chemical engineers and soil scientists to cater for the manufacturing and evaluation of products. Such a new research model will promote sustainable soil management to actualize a resilient future.

中文翻译：

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生物精炼厂辅助的土壤管理，以增强粮食安全

目的

该交流旨在促进生物精炼与土壤管理的融合，以实现可持续发展目标（SDG）。

方法

综述了生物质废物利用和土壤质量改善的最新进展，在此基础上，我们确定了将两个研究领域联系起来的机会，并提出了对废物管理和土壤改良互利的战略方法。

结果和讨论

在全球范围内，每年都会产生来自农业残留物和食品供应链的大量生物质废物。将生物质废物热化学转化为生物炭等宏观生物聚合物材料，可作为土壤改良剂来介导土壤酸度，提高持水能力，改变土壤生物区系并保留养分，从而改善土壤健康状况和作物产量。经济可行性已在文献中得到证明，并且可以通过设计更具成本效益的生物炭来进一步改善。此外，可以通过分馏/萃取以及热化学或生物纯化从生物质废物中获得包括有价值的有机物质（例如，琥珀酸作为农药）和营养物（例如，磷）在内的精细化学品。与生物炭相比，生物衍生化学品作为土壤添加剂的研究较少，在庞大的农业利用市场中具有未开发的潜力。废物源产品在食品供应链中的应用要求严格的质量保证/控制，以符合与安全相关的法规。

结论

两种农业废物计价方法均属于宏观材料和精细化学品的生产，可以通过整合互补技术进行协调，以提供最大程度地利用废物作为资源和高碳回收的优势。生物炼制专家，环境/化学工程师和土壤科学家之间的合作有望带来新的情况，以满足产品的制造和评估需求。这种新的研究模式将促进可持续的土壤管理，以实现具有复原力的未来。