The University of Jaén and Carboliva have signed a collaboration agreement that will allow the elaboration of an industrial doctoral thesis on the potential of biochar derived from alpeorujo for the regeneration of degraded olive grove soil.
Specifically, the doctoral thesis, entitled ‘Evaluating the potential of biochar from olive pomace and olive pits to support organic soil amendments and remediation of copper and pesticide contamination’, is attached to the Doctorate Programme in Earth and Environmental Science and Technology of the UJA and will be carried out by Mar Isabel Reyes, under the tutelage of José Antonio Manzaneda, professor of Ecology at the UJA, coordinator of the Soil O-Live project, which studies the state of health of soils in Mediterranean olive groves.
The aim of the project to be developed in collaboration between the UJA and Carboliva is to evaluate the agronomic and agro-ecological potential of biochar generated from alperujo as a support and structural element for the ecological remediation of degraded soils contaminated by heavy metals and other organic pollutants. Furthermore, it aims to evaluate the synergy with other strategies based on inoculation with mycorrhizal fungi, bacterial consortia and/or microalgae for soil fertility improvement and soil remediation. Finally, it establishes the potential of using biochar as a source of carbon stock in olive orchards.
The content of this industrial doctorate is also of interest for the Soil O-Live project itself and some of its developments will be used for the thesis, such as the selection of experimental farms.
This doctoral thesis will be carried out with partial funding from the University of Jaén, through ‘Action 2. Doctorates in external entities’ of the Office for the Transfer of Research Results (OTRI), in the framework of the Operational Plan to Support Knowledge Transfer 2024 (Adaptation of the Operational Plan to Support Knowledge Transfer, Employability and Entrepreneurship 2023) of the Vice-Rectorate for Research and Knowledge Transfer of the UJA and the company Carboliva, as well as the Soil O-Live project, which is coordinated by the University of Jaén.
The company Carboliva, located in Puente del Obispo, converts between 12,000 and 15,000 tonnes of clean and dry olive pits or extracted pomace (orujillo) into 4,000 to 5,000 tonnes of biochar per year each season. It is the first Spanish company to produce biochar from olive biomass and the first to be certified by the EBC (European Biochar Industry Consortium). Therefore, its use to recover the health of the soil and improve the productivity and sustainability of olive cultivation represents a circular economy solution.