Hydrochar is a carbon-rich material produced by the hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of biomass. As a new concept, hydrochar has generated much research interest due to its ability to employ wet and dry biomass as feedstocks and its application in the agronomical, environmental, and energy sectors. This review considers the developments made with hydrochar as a soil amendment in terms of soil fertility, carbon sequestration, and fate of pollutants based on the available data. Moreover, the economic feasibility using a life cycle assessment of hydrochar has also been discussed. This review assessed that the hydrochar is an environmentally friendly soil amendments for plant growth by slow release of nutrients and carbon sequestration. Hydrochar application to the soil may increase the soil’s water-holding capacity but decreases the bulk density, although the water-holding capacity of hydrochar depends on the reaction temperature and particle size of the materials. Furthermore, the hydrochar may exert a positive effect on growth and abundance of different soil microbes. This paper not only summarizes the recent advances made in developing hydrochar as a soil amendment, it also discusses the challenges and limitations of hydrochar in a wider context.

Hydrochar是通过生物质的水热碳化（HTC）产生的富碳材料。作为一种新概念，水焦炭因其具有利用湿和干生物质作为原料的能力及其在农业，环境和能源领域的应用而引起了广泛的研究兴趣。这篇综述根据现有数据，将水炭作为土壤改良剂在土壤肥力，碳固存和污染物归宿方面的发展考虑在内。此外，还讨论了使用水焦炭生命周期评估的经济可行性。这篇评论评估了水焦炭是植物生长的一种环境友好的土壤改良剂，它可以缓慢释放养分和固碳。向土壤中施用碳氢化合物可能会增加土壤的持水能力，但会降低其堆积密度，尽管炭的保水能力取决于反应温度和材料的粒径。此外，水炭可以对不同土壤微生物的生长和丰度产生积极影响。本文不仅总结了在发展碳氢化合物作为土壤改良剂方面的最新进展，还讨论了在更广泛的背景下水碳的挑战和局限性。