The SAYFERT project regards valorisation of local-available biomass to design innovative and safe fertilisers, especially by using residual biomass resulting from forest cleaning operations. Despite the well-known value of biochar in carbon sequestration and soil amelioration, the state-of-the-art of biochar applications is still lacking of a full validation on its environmental merit, namely on ecotoxicity concerns and leaching of potentially toxic compounds. Therefore, application of biochar in a sensitive ecosystem such as Ria de Aveiro must be faced carefully and scientifically supported. SAYFERT project is therefore an excellent opportunity to test the agronomic value and environmental safety of these soil amendments towards development of local circular economy strategies. The overarching goals are:
(i) to make use of Estarreja-based residual biomass to produce biochar with suitable characteristics to provide long-term soil fertilisation;
(ii) to develop reliable formulations of biochar produced from different/combined feedstocks (including acacia and gorse spp.) and pyrolysis conditions;
(iii) to verify the agronomic value and environmental safety of the fertilisers by assessing its potential ecotoxicity and mobilisation.
