Biochar from argan shells: production and characterization

Purpose The agricultural practices in south western Morocco reserve a majority of the water resources to be used for irrigation. The extent of irrigated agriculture combined with high evaporative rates, lead to the depletion of water resources and degradation of soil quality. To remedy to this problem, biochar, a pyrolysed biomass, is highly considered to improve retaining water and nutrients in soils. For this biochar research, argan shells obtained after extraction of argan oil were used as the biomass source to produce biochar. According to the best of our knowledge, no research to date has been carried out on the production and characterization of biochar produced from argan shells wastes.