Scotland 'using Amazonian methods to improve soil quality'

Scientists in Scotland are exploring the inclusion of charcoal, a method used Amazonian tribes, in a bid to devise ways of improving soil quality, it has been reported.

Researchers from the newly-launched UK Biochar Research Centre at Edinburgh University are exploring the possibility that creating a type of natural charcoal from waste plant matter could be the key to preventing the emission of carbon from soils.

This particular type of charcoal has previously been shown to improve soil quality and could be sold to farmers to reduce the use of traditional fertilisers, reports the Scotsman.

"Biochar offers an achievable, affordable method of storing carbon for hundreds, if not thousands, of years - we have to adopt technologies such as this to reduce carbon emissions in the long term," said Dr Simon Shackley from the university's School of GeoSciences.

Currently, researchers at the University of Toronto Scarborough are conducting a study into how we can gain more knowledge about global warming by examining soil quality, Science Daily reports.