Funded PhD Project: Carbon dynamics of Peat based Biochar as a Greenhouse gas flux regulator in manure management applications
Job Description
Applicants are invited to apply for a Funded PhD Project: Carbon dynamics of Peat based Biochar as a Greenhouse gas flux regulator in manure management applications.
All applications to be made online at: http://dit.ie/researchandenterprise/graduateresearchschool/phdopportunities/
Further information on the project can be found here under the school of Spatial Planning & Transport Engineering :
Project Description:
Peatlands cover approximately 11,757 Km2 of Ireland and represent a major feedstock for Biochar (BC) production. BC has been recognised as having a significant role to play in regulating GHG production in bio-systems. The agriculture sector in Ireland accounts for nearly 33% of the total national GHG emissions (2013) – among the highest of any country in the developed world.
Additionally, national and EU-Kyoto Protocol obligations require Ireland to reduce the efflux of GHGs emissions associated with agricultural practices. Manure GHG management associated with Ireland’s intensive dairy and beef production sector (> 6.3 million cattle – 2013) presents a special challenge. Hence, optimal GHG management of manure mediated emissions for this sector is an imperative. The use of BC in the abatement of GHG effluxes in the manure management cycle has been recognised but the mechanisms of process are uncertain. This study will explore through laboratory analysis and systems thinking the unique profile and character of Peat-based BC and demonstrate its potential to mediate reductions in GHG emissions from manure management systems. The use of cutaway Irish ombrotrophic peats as a BC feedstock to regulate GHG efflux in manure management systems has never been evaluated in detail. This in conjunction with a mechanistic simulation approach that evaluates the overall carbon balance of Peat-based BC utilization represents a unique and novel contribution to BC mediated GHG abatement technology