Microbial Biochar Based Sustainable Waste Management Approach

Water pollution is a major environmental problem worldwide due to the release of domestic, agricultural, and industrial waste into the surrounding water bodies which causes harmful effects on human and animal health. Different types of pollutants accumulate in the water among which organic and inorganic pollutants, heavy metals, dyes, and pesticides may easily affect the food chain. Several conventional methods for wastewater treatment are available which have several drawbacks that include high cost of operation, high energy consumption, requirement of skilled personnel, non-eco-friendly nature, and less efficiency. Currently, the studies are focusing on the removal of pollutants from wastewater using biochar generated from different biomass, e.g., bacteria, fungi, algae, plant biomass, domestic residues, animal waste, and sewage sludge. Microbial biochar has high wastewater treatment potential, because of its environmentally benign, economical and efficient nature. This chapter explains different methods for the production of biochar from bacteria, cyanobacteria, fungi, and algae, along with optimization of parameters (temperature, pH, contact time, dosage, initial pollutant concentration), mechanism of adsorption, and kinetics. Thus microbial biochar can be a powerful strategy for waste management for ensuring a clean environment.