The Potential of Agroecosystems to Reduce Climate Change (Innovations in Environmental Engineering)

As agricultural systems bear the brunt of global population growth, the world faces an unprecedented challenge: meeting rising food demands while mitigating environmental degradation and climate change. The agricultural intensification methods pioneered since the 1960s have exacted a significant environmental toll in the form of diminishing biodiversity, reducing carbon storage capacity, depleting water resources, degrading soil quality, and increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

This comprehensive monograph presents innovative solutions for transforming agroecosystems from environmental liabilities into powerful climate mitigation tools. The authors examine cutting-edge agrotechnical treatments, environmental engineering technologies, and circular economy principles that enable agricultural waste to serve as effective soil improvers and fertilizers. Particular emphasis is placed on the physicochemical properties of biochar and its critical role in carbon sequestration, offering readers both theoretical foundations and practical applications.

This is a valuable resource for agricultural scientists, environmental engineers, sustainability professionals, policymakers, graduate students in environmental sciences, and anyone committed to understanding and addressing the intersection of food security and climate change.

Elżbieta Harasim, Ph.D., Sc.D., is a researcher and lecturer at the Department of Herbology and Plant Cultivation Techniques, University of Life Sciences, Lublin, Poland. She is a member of the Polish Society of Agronomy. Her research interests include improving agrotechnics of cereal, herbal, and vegetable plants; the impact of the cultivation system (ecological and conventional) on biodiversity; the quality of soil and agricultural crops; the effect of bio-stimulants and foliar fertilizers on crop yield and its quality; the use of alternative sources of fertilization (biochar, zeolite, digestate, fertilizer whey, and mushroom substrate) in plant cultivation; methods of weed control; the profitability and economic efficiency in plant production; the role of agriculture in mitigating climate change; and the multifunctionality of rural areas. She is the author/co-author of over 100 scientific and review publications in peer-reviewed international and national journals, eight monographs, and seven chapters in monographs. She has participated in the implementation of seven research projects, including two international and national agri-environmental programs.

Cezary A. Kwiatkowski, Ph.D., Sc.D., is a researcher and lecturer at the Faculty of Agrobioengineering, University of Life Sciences, Lublin, Poland. Since 2011, he has been the head of the Department of Agritourism and Rural Development operating within the Department of Herbology and Plant Cultivation Techniques. His research interests include optimization of agronomic practices, agricultural systems, improving agrotechnics of herbal plants and vegetables, the effect of biostimulators and other foliar sprays on crop yield and quality, evaluation of the suitability of spent mushroom substrate (SMS) for crop fertilization, aspects of organic farming in agroecosystems, agrotechnical factors influencing soil quality, the role of agriculture in climate change mitigation, and the multifunctionality of rural areas. He is the author/co-author of 240 papers, including 150 articles in scientific journals, 12 monographs, 24 chapters in monographs, and 17 popular science articles, as well as two publications related to agricultural practice. He has participated in the implementation of 17 research projects, managing six of them (two international). These projects primarily dealt with the improvement of agrotechnics of cereal, root and herbal plants, ecological and conventional farming systems, and sustainable management of mineral and organic fertilizers.

Artur Pawłowski, Ph.D., Sc.D., is a researcher and lecturer at the Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Lublin University of Technology, Poland. He has taught at The Baltic University, Sweden, and is a member of many prestigious organizations, such as The European Academy of Science and Arts, Salzburg, Austria; Research Committee on Environment, Climate and Energy of the European Academy of Science and Arts; The Forecast Committee of The Polish Academy of Sciences; and International Association for Environmental Philosophy, Philadelphia, USA. His research interests include the multidimensional nature of sustainable development, factors connected with climate change, and the energy sector, especially in the context of renewable sources of energy. He is the author/co-author of 100 scientific papers, 38 chapters in scientific monographs, 13 books, and 15 patents. He has also edited 18 books. He is the editor-in-chief of the journal Problemy Ekorozwoju/Problems of Sustainable Development.

Lucjan Pawłowski, Ph.D., Sc.D., is a professor at the Lublin University of Technology, Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Poland. He is a member of the Environmental Engineering Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences and of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. He was formerly the President of the International Committee "Chemistry for Protection Environment", the Chairman of the Environmental Chemistry Division of the Polish Chemical Society, the Deputy President of the Polish Chemical Society, and the Deputy President of the Presidium Polish Academy of Science Committee "Men and Biosphere". His research interests include climate change, mitigation of carbon dioxide by terrestrial ecosystem, energy, environmental engineering, and application of ion exchange for water and wastewater treatment. He is the author/co-author of 19 books, 130 papers, and 68 patents.

Justyna Bąk, Ph.D., Sc.D., is a researcher at the Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin, Poland. His research interests include adsorption processes of inorganic pollutants on carbon and biochar materials and modifications of these materials. He is the author/co-author of over 20 publications, including 11 papers.

Zbigniew Hubicki, Ph.D., Sc.D., is a professor at the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, University of Maria Curie-Skłodowska, Lublin, Poland. His research interests include chemistry and technology of rare elements, sorption and extraction methods for separation and separation of metal ions and organic compounds, waste and wastewater treatment technologies, and agricultural and environmental chemistry. He is the author/co-author of over 180 publications, including 168 papers.

Dorota Kołodyńska, Ph.D., Sc.D., is a professor at the Faculty of Chemistry of the Marie Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin, Poland. His research interests include ion exchange chromatography of d- and f-electron elements, methods for separation of inorganic compounds, removal of metal ions from waters and wastewaters, and extraction of rare earth elements with special emphasis on biodegradable complexing agents and modified biochar and hybrid sorbents. He is the author/co-author of over 240 publications, including 150 papers.