Nitrate leaching and ammonia volatilization are the main pathways of nitrogen loss in agriculture. New environmentally friendly fertilizers have been investigated in recent years in order to reduce nitrogen losses and associated impacts [1]. One suggested solution has been to incorporate biochar as soil amendment, since its effects on nitrogen retention and soil fertility are well known [2, 3]. Fertilizer production from activated biocarbon is the researched line explored in this work. Biochar has been produced from two different raw materials, residual biomass and coal mine residues. Both have been produced through a physical activation process in an externally heated quartz tubular reactor [4]. After an experimental period, the optimized conditions were reached and the biochar product was obtained showing good microporosity and adsorption characteristics. The final product was used to set up the new fertilizer, and its nitrogen retention capacity was experimentally tested by laboratory and pot trials.
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