Pyrolysis or combustion of waste wood can provide a renewable source of energy and produce biochar
which can be used to land amelioration. Jones and
Quilliam (2014) concluded that low levels of contamination
from Cu-treated wood (preservative-treated
timber) should pose minimal environmental risk to
biochar and ash destined for land application. The
root biomass of ryegrass (Lolium perenne var. Calibra)
treated with biochar from birch (Betula pendula) wood
produced on trace element-contaminated soil was lower
than that of the non-amended plants, while that
of the shoot was higher (Evangelou et al., 2014). The
biochar addition to metal-contaminated soils can cultivate
bioenergy crops, rapeseed (Brassica napus L.),
without encroaching on agricultural lands that in turn
be used as feedstock for pyrolysis to produce both
bioenergy and new biochar (Houben et al., 2013).