Carbon Footprint for Post-Mining Soils: The Dynamic of Net CO 2 Fluxes and SOC Sequestration at Different Soil Remediation Stages under Reforestation

Aneta Kowalska (), Bal Ram Singh and Anna Grobelak ()
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Aneta Kowalska: Faculty of Infrastructure and Environment, Czestochowa University of Technology, 42-200 Czestochowa, Poland
Bal Ram Singh: Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, 1433 Ås, Norway
Anna Grobelak: Faculty of Infrastructure and Environment, Czestochowa University of Technology, 42-200 Czestochowa, Poland

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 24, 1-23

Abstract: The remediation of open-cast post-mining soil remains a big challenge. Here, the post-mining soils are considered from the viewpoints of CO 2 emission and carbon sequestration. We investigated the dynamic of C stock in two different post-mining areas, i.e., the limestone post-mining soil remediated with embankment (S1), and the lignite post-mining soil remediated with sewage sludge (S2). Post-mining soils under four different remediation stages were used. The study was conducted in the spring of 2021 and 2022. The aim of the study was to assess the C sequestration in sewage sludge amended and non-amended post-mining soils at differently advanced remediation techniques. We noticed an increase in or stabilization of SOC in the S1. The stabilization of SOC was observed for the soil with a higher remediation age (S1C, S1D). The remediation of the S2 resulted in the increase in SOC among the soil remediation age. For both soils, we noticed a negative CO 2 emission from the soil under remediation, and the net CO 2 emission rate (NCER) further decreased after one year. A positive C feedback of both remediation techniques was shown to reflect lower active carbon (POXC). We also noticed an increase in nutrient content (K, Mg), and a decrease in heavy metals content after 1 year. Such a positive relationship between the remediation of post-mining soils and C sequestration indicates a step towards climate change mitigation.

Keywords: reforestation of post-mining soils; net CO 2 emission; soil respiration; SOC; POXC; CO 2 release; C/N ratio; C feedback; mitigation of climate change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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