• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2020

This study aimed to figure out and compare the increment of biomass by thinning intensity focused on the plantation of the two major coniferous species (Larix kaempferi and Pinus koraiensis) of South Korea. The inventory interval was three years under the effects of three types of thinning treatments; control (no thinning), light (20% thinning) and heavy (40% thinning). The results showed standing biomass increment of both species decreased as thinning intensity increased (heavylight>control). Meanwhile, the lowest of on-site biomass changes occurred in the control plot, and the greatest was in the heavy thinning plot because thinning was involved with leaving the felling residual biomass (leaves, branches and roots) on the site. According to the results from this short-term study, unthinned stands is preferable for maximizing standing biomass as well as carbon sequestration. However long-term investigation should be considered in order to see more clear results.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.43-60
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• 2019

Background: Tropical montane forests played an important role in the provision of ecosystem services. The intense degradation and deforestation for the need of agricultural land expansion result in a significant decline of forest cover. However, the expansion of agricultural land did not completely destruct natural forests. There remain forests inaccessible for agricultural and grazing purpose. Studies on these forests remained scant, motivating to investigate biomass and soil carbon stocks. Data of biomass and soils were collected in 80 quadrats ($400m^2$) systematically in 5 forests. Biomass and disturbance gradients were determined using allometric equation and disturbance index, respectively. The regression modeling is employed to explore the spatial distribution of carbon stock along disturbance and environmental gradients. Correlation analysis is also employed to identify the relation between site factors and carbon stocks. Results: The result revealed that a total of 1655 individuals with a diameter of ${\geq}5cm$, representing 38 species, were measured in 5 forests. The mean aboveground biomass carbon stocks (AGB CS) and soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks at 5 forests were $191.6{\pm}19.7$ and $149.32{\pm}6.8Mg\;C\;ha^{-1}$, respectively. The AGB CS exhibited significant (P < 0.05) positive correlation with SOC and total nitrogen (TN) stocks, reflecting that biomass seems to be a general predictor of SOCs. AGB CS between highly and least-disturbed forests was significantly different (P < 0.05). This disturbance level equates to a decrease in AGB CS of 36.8% in the highly disturbed compared with the least-disturbed forest. In all forests, dominant species sequestrated more than 58% of carbon. The AGB CS in response to elevation and disturbance index and SOC stocks in response to soil pH attained unimodal pattern. The stand structures, such as canopy cover and basal area, had significant positive relation with AGB CS. Conclusions: Study results confirmed that carbon stocks of studied forests were comparable to carbon stocks of protected forests. The biotic, edaphic, topographic, and disturbance factors played a significant variation in carbon stocks of forests. Further study should be conducted to quantify carbon stocks of herbaceous, litter, and soil microbes to account the role of the whole forest ecosystem.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.163-168
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• 2018

Biomass waste-derived carbon is an attractive alternative with environmental benignity to obtain carbon material. In this study, we prepare carbon from coffee grounds as a biomass precursor using a simple, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly method through physical activation using only steam. The coffee-derived carbon, having a micropore-rich structure and a low extent of graphitization of disordered carbon, is developed and directly applied to lithium-ion battery anode material. Compared with the introduction of the Ketjenblack (KB) conducting agent (i.e., coffee-derived carbon with KB), the coffee-derived carbon itself achieves a reversible capacity of ~200 mAh/g (0.54 lithium per 6 carbons) at a current density of 100 mA/g after 100 cycles, along with excellent cycle stability. The origin of highly reversible lithium storage is attributed to the consistent diffusion-controlled intercalation/de-intercalation reaction in cycle life, which suggests that the bulk diffusion of lithium is favorable in the coffee-derived carbon itself, in the absence of a conducting agent. This study presents the preparation of carbon material through physical activation without the use of chemical activation agents and demonstrates an application of coffee-derived carbon in energy storage devices.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.73-79
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• 2017

BACKGROUND: Carbonized biomass is a carbon-rich solid product obtained by the pyrolysis of biomass. It has been suggested to mitigate climate change through increased carbon storage and reduction of greenhouse gas emission. The objective of this study was to evaluate carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) and nitrous oxide ($N_2O$) emissions from soil after carbonized biomass addition. METHODS AND RESULTS: The carbonized biomass was made from a pyrolyzer, which a reactor was operated about $400{\sim}500^{\circ}C$ for 5 hours. The treatments were consisted of a control without input of carbonized biomass and two levels of carbonized biomass inputs as 6.06 Mg/ha for CB-1 and 12.12 Mg/ha for CB-2. Emissions of $CO_2$ and $N_2O$ from orchard soil were determined using closed chamber for 13 weeks at $25^{\circ}C$ of incubation temperature. It was shown that the cumulative $CO_2$ were $209.4g\;CO_2/m^2$ for CB-1, $206.4g\;CO_2/m^2$ for CB-2 and $214.5g\;CO_2/m^2$ for the control after experimental periods. The cumulative $CO_2$ emission was similar in carbonized biomass input treatment compared to the control. It was appeared that cumulative $N_2O$ emissions were $4,478mg\;N_2O/m^2$ for control, $3,227mg\;N_2O/m^2$ for CB-1 and$ 2,324mg\;N_2O/m^2$ for CB-2 at the end of experiment. Cumulative $N_2O$ emission contents significantly decreased with increasing the carbonized biomass input. CONCLUSION: Consequently the carbonized biomass from byproducts such as pear branch residue could suppress the soil $N_2O$ emission. The results fromthe study imply that carbonized biomass can be utilized to reduce greenhouse gas emission from the orchard field.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.247-250
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• 2008

Biomass gasification is a promising technology for producing a fuel gas which is useful for power generation systems. In biomass gasification processes, tar formation often causes some problems such as pipeline plugging. Thus, proper tar treatment is necessary. So far, nickel (Ni)-based catalysts have been intensively studied for the catalytic tar removal. However, the deactivation of Ni-based catalysts takes place because of coke deposition and sintering of Ni metal particles. To overcome these problems, we have been using ruthenium (Ru)-based catalyst for tar removal. It is reported by Okada et al., that a Ru/$Al_2O_3$ catalyst is very effective for preventing the carbon deposition during the steam reforming of hydrocarbons. Also, this catalyst is more active than the Ni-based catalyst at a low steam to carbon ratio (S/C). Benzene was used for the tar model compound because it is the main constituent of biomass tar and also because it represents a stable aromatic structure apparent in tar formed in biomass gasification processes. The steam reforming process transforms hydrocarbons into gaseous mixtures constituted of carbon dioxide ($CO_2$), carbon monoxide (CO), methane ($CH_4$) and hydrogen ($H_2$).

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.234-242
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• 2011

BACKGROUND: Cultivation of winter cover crops is strongly recommended to increase land utilization efficiency, animal feeding material self-production, and to improve soil and environmental quality. METHODS AND RESULTS: Four major winter crops (barley, Chinese milk vetch, hairy vetch, and rye) having different C/N ratio were seeded in silt loam paddy soil in the November 2007 and the aboveground biomass was harvested on the late May 2008 to evaluate its effectiveness as green manure, and root biomass distribution was characterized at the different depth (0-60 cm) to study its effect on physical properties and carbon sequestration in soil. During this experiment, the naturally growing weed in the rice paddy soil in Korea, short awn foxtail (Alopecurus aequalis Sobol), was considered as control treatment. Above-ground biomass of all cover crops selected was significantly higher than that of the control treatment (2.8 Mg/ha). Comparatively higher above-ground biomass productivity of rye and barley (15.8 and 13.5 Mg/ha, respectively) suggested that these cover crops possibly had the highest potential as a green manure and animal feeding material. Root biomass production of different cover crops followed the same trend as that for their above ground biomass. Rye (Secale cereal) might have the highest potential for soil C accumulation (7893 C kg/ha) by root biomass development, and then followed by barley (6985 C kg/ha), hairy vetch (6467 C kg/ha), Chinese milk vetch (6671 C kg/ha), and control (5791 C kg/ha). CONCLUSION(s): Cover crops like rye and barley having high biomass productivity might be the most effective winter cover crops to increase organic carbon distribution in different soil aggregates which might be beneficial to improve soil structure, aeration etc. and C sequestration.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.259-268
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• 2018

The $PM_{2.5}$ samples were collected for every 6th day during one year at a suburban site in the Namwonsi, Jeollanamdo, Republic of Korea. Samples were analyzed for elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), and levoglucosan. Although the water-soluble fraction of fine particulate OC consistently showed over a year, levoglucosan fraction of WSOC varied considerably from month to month. In this study, non-biomass-burning WSOC ($WSOC_{NBB}$) and biomass-burning $WSOC_{BB}$ were calculated with measurements of organic source tracer, levoglucosan, to better understand the temporal distribution and sources of WSOC. Two methods of predicting the secondary organic carbon from the biomass-burning $WSOC_{BB}$ Method and the EC-tracer Method were compared. Poor correlations between SOC estimated between two methods suggested that the use of the EC tracer method to estimate SOC may be significantly flawed. Direct measurements of levoglucosan and WSOC can provide a reasonable estimate of secondary organic carbon concentrations.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.157-164
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• 2013

The campus of Chittagong University in Bangladesh is rich in forest ecosystem. The campus has large area with vast tract of land planted with valuable timber tree species. The present study identifies and discovers the potential growing stock of the plantations in the campus area. This Growing stock was measured in three parameters viz. volume, biomass and organic carbon stock. Study identified thirty three economically valuable forest tree species in the plantations of Chittagong University. Out of three growing stock parameters, volume of timber was found to be low in indigenous tree species in the plantation sites other than exotic species. This might be due to their slow growth rate and low density in the plantation sites. However, biomass and organic carbon stock of trees per hactre area showed that indigenous species gather and sequester more timber and carbon respectively than introduced species. Plantations of Chittagong University campus can acquire $25.51m^3/ha$ volume of economically important tree species, where biomass and organic carbon stock is 222.33 tonne/ha and 107.48 tonne/ha respectively. This result shows a positive impression on the plantation site to be considered as good forest reserve.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.25-36
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• 2020

Area exclosure is a widely practiced intervention of restoring degraded lands though its impact in sequestering terrestrial and soil carbon is scanty. The study was initiated to investigate the effect of exclosure of different ages on carbon sequestration potential of restoring degraded dryland ecosystems in eastern Tigray, northern Ethiopia. Twelve plots each divided into three layers were randomly selected from 5, 10 and 15 years old exclosures and paired adjacent open grazing land. Tree and shrub biomasses were determined using destructive sampling while herb layer biomass was determined using total harvest. The average total biomass obtained were 13.6, 24.8, 27.1, and 55.5 Mg ha^-1 for open grazing, 5 years, 10 years, and 15 years exclosures respectively. The carbon content of plant species ranged between 48 to 53 percent of a dry biomass. The total carbon stored in the 5 years, 10 years and 15 years age exclosures were 39 Mg C ha^-1, 46.3 Mg C ha^-1, and 64.6 Mg C ha^-1 respectively while in the open grazing land the value was 24.7 Mg C ha^-1. Carbon stock is age dependent and increases with age. The difference in total carbon content between exclosures and open grazing land varied between 14.3-40 Mg C ha^-1. Although it is difficult to extrapolate this result for a longer future, the average annual carbon being sequestered in the oldest exclosure was about 2.7 Mg C ha^-1 yr^-1. In view of improving degraded area and sequestering carbon, area exclosures are promising options.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.260-265
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• 2008

As one of renewable energy sources, biomass is playing a major role in reducing the greenhouse gas emission in the UK. The country currently produces about 4.5% (18.1TWh in 2006) of the total electricity generation from renewables, where biomass-based sources accounts for 50% of the amount and the remainder mostly from hydro and windpower. In 2007, the UK government has announced its new energy policy through the Energy White Paper, which includes an ambitious national target of 60% cuts in carbon emission by 2050. Complementary strategic plans in key renewable energy technologies accompanied the Energy White Paper, including biomass strategy, waste strategy and low carbon transportation strategy. This paper summarizes the current status and policy of UK for renewable energy production with focus on the use of biomass and bioenergy.