1 Introduction
Soil is a large basin for agricultural production and associated biological activity on
this planet, but explosive growth in human population is a challenging task to
maintain all natural sources for feeding the food demands all over the world.
Therefore, soil is the rudimentary and life supportive component of the environment
that contains several minerals and biological forms. Microorganisms are the key
components of the soil that play an important role to maintain soil fertility due to
their involvement in several biogeochemical mechanisms (Beesley et al. 2011). But
indiscriminate anthropogenic pollution is affecting environmental disparity such as
industrialization, urbanization, and access application of the synthetic fertilizers, also
polluting the agricultural and nonagricultural lands globally. A pollutant frequently
comes from houses, cattle sheds, industries, agriculture, and other places that destroy
soil or water ecosystems. Soil contamination is an excess amount of any element or
chemical compound, through direct or indirect exposure, which causes a toxic
response against soil biota and human being, resulting in various kinds of
environmental health hazards (Adriano 2001; Abrahams 2002; Vangronsveld et al.
2009; Beesley et al. 2011). Mench et al. (2010) reported that the organic and
inorganic pollutant occurs in contaminated soil worldwide. Now various environmentally acceptable techniques have been discovered for the sustainable waste
management dealing with this problem. Currently, the group of experts is working
in the direction of bioremediation of different contaminated soils in the cost-effective
ways (Beesley et al. 2011). The in situ application of biochar in contaminated soils to
bind pollutants and providing material conditions that promote plant growth and
stimulate ecological diversity have become more popular (Adriano et al. 2004;
Bernal et al. 2006; Vangronsveld et al. 2009). Carbon-rich amendments, such as
activated carbons, have been deployed for soil and water pollutant detoxification
purposes due to their ability to reduce contaminant bioavailability (Brändli et al.
2008; Cho et al. 2009) and risk. Activated carbon is a pollutant’s adsorbing material
that is called biochar which is produced from the incomplete combustion of organic
materials (e.g., rice husk, sugarcane bagasse, wheat straw, etc.) (Jonker and
Koelmans 2002; Ghosh et al. 2003; Cornelissen and Gustafsson 2005; Brändli
et al. 2008; Beesley et al. 2011). Biochar may provide an important sink for
dissolved contaminants in soil where contaminants are run off and collected
(Robinson et al. 2007; Beesley et al. 2011).
Various anthropogenic sources (industries, agriculture, and household) release
the petroleum hydrocarbons that can affect the large surface area of soil in the form
of highly toxic pollutants (Singh et al. 2016a, b). Bioremediation of hydrocarbons
and toxic metals through activated charcoal is an important aspect to reducing the
toxic effect of various organic and inorganic pollutants (pentachlorophenol, pentachlorophenol biphenyls, benzene, dioxins, linden and arsenic, chromium, and mercury, respectively) because of relatively low costs and environmentally friendly
properties in contrast to other value-adding technologies (Grace Liu et al. 2011;
476
C. Singh et al.
Soil is a large basin for agricultural production and associated biological activity on
this planet, but explosive growth in human population is a challenging task to
maintain all natural sources for feeding the food demands all over the world.
Therefore, soil is the rudimentary and life supportive component of the environment
that contains several minerals and biological forms. Microorganisms are the key
components of the soil that play an important role to maintain soil fertility due to
their involvement in several biogeochemical mechanisms (Beesley et al. 2011). But
indiscriminate anthropogenic pollution is affecting environmental disparity such as
industrialization, urbanization, and access application of the synthetic fertilizers, also
polluting the agricultural and nonagricultural lands globally. A pollutant frequently
comes from houses, cattle sheds, industries, agriculture, and other places that destroy
soil or water ecosystems. Soil contamination is an excess amount of any element or
chemical compound, through direct or indirect exposure, which causes a toxic
response against soil biota and human being, resulting in various kinds of
environmental health hazards (Adriano 2001; Abrahams 2002; Vangronsveld et al.
2009; Beesley et al. 2011). Mench et al. (2010) reported that the organic and
inorganic pollutant occurs in contaminated soil worldwide. Now various environmentally acceptable techniques have been discovered for the sustainable waste
management dealing with this problem. Currently, the group of experts is working
in the direction of bioremediation of different contaminated soils in the cost-effective
ways (Beesley et al. 2011). The in situ application of biochar in contaminated soils to
bind pollutants and providing material conditions that promote plant growth and
stimulate ecological diversity have become more popular (Adriano et al. 2004;
Bernal et al. 2006; Vangronsveld et al. 2009). Carbon-rich amendments, such as
activated carbons, have been deployed for soil and water pollutant detoxification
purposes due to their ability to reduce contaminant bioavailability (Brändli et al.
2008; Cho et al. 2009) and risk. Activated carbon is a pollutant’s adsorbing material
that is called biochar which is produced from the incomplete combustion of organic
materials (e.g., rice husk, sugarcane bagasse, wheat straw, etc.) (Jonker and
Koelmans 2002; Ghosh et al. 2003; Cornelissen and Gustafsson 2005; Brändli
et al. 2008; Beesley et al. 2011). Biochar may provide an important sink for
dissolved contaminants in soil where contaminants are run off and collected
(Robinson et al. 2007; Beesley et al. 2011).
Various anthropogenic sources (industries, agriculture, and household) release
the petroleum hydrocarbons that can affect the large surface area of soil in the form
of highly toxic pollutants (Singh et al. 2016a, b). Bioremediation of hydrocarbons
and toxic metals through activated charcoal is an important aspect to reducing the
toxic effect of various organic and inorganic pollutants (pentachlorophenol, pentachlorophenol biphenyls, benzene, dioxins, linden and arsenic, chromium, and mercury, respectively) because of relatively low costs and environmentally friendly
properties in contrast to other value-adding technologies (Grace Liu et al. 2011;
476
C. Singh et al.