Processes for producing biofertilizers from biomass and products produced

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of producing a phototrophic cyanobacteria based biofertilizer.

Description

[0001] PROCESSES FOR PRODUCING BIOFERTILIZERS FROM BIOMASS AND PRODUCTS PRODUCED

[0002] FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The present invention relates to chemotrophic methods for producing heterocyst containing self-replicating phototrophic cyanobacteria-based biofertilizers and soil amendments.

[0004] BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The vast majority of fertilizers in use today are synthetic, nitrogen-containing fertilizers that are chemically produced from natural gas through intermediates such as urea or ammonia or ammonium nitrate, etc. . The production of each ton of such synthetic fertilizer releases several tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. Additionally, when applied to the ground a portion of the fertilizer either decomposes, thereby emitting more atmospheric NOx and / or CO2, or is washed into adjacent rivers and streams, thereby polluting them and damaging marine life.

[0006] US patent 9,365,461 describes methods of producing self-replicating phototrophic cyanobacteria-based biofertilizers that are at least as effective as the synthetic chemically produced fertilizers and actually consume atmospheric CO2 both during their production and during their self-replication after they have been applied to the soil. About 5 to 7% of the cyanobacteria in such Biofertilizers contain heterocysts that, after the biofertilizer is applied to the soil, causes the cyanobacteria to continue to activate atmospheric nitrogen and incorporate it in the soil, thereby increasing its fertility. The cyanobacteria and their soil consortia used to produce a biofertilizer may be cultured into an inoculum in a manner taught by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2008 / 0236227 to Flynn, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety, (hereinafter referred to as "Flynn") and used to inoculate an amplifying photo-bioreactor (PBR), also taught by Flynn, where the culture can be rapidly grown in liquid media via ready access to nutrients, carbon dioxide, sunlight and hydraulic mixing. The PBR may be fed by sunlight, nutrients and a carbon source that is most commonly carbon dioxide, but that may be a fixed form such as sodium bicarbonate or other bio-available forms.

[0007] The biofertilizer also includes structured nano-biochar produced by microwave pyrolysis of cellulosics, that provides nucleation sites for the production of cyanobacteria and other algae in the PDR system, and as a component of the biofertilizer in which absorbed inorganics and other absorbed materials in the biochar act as nutrients to import impart beneficial properties to the biofertilizer. It also acts to substantially increase the reproduction rate of the cyanobacteria when the biofertilizer is applied to the soil. Known methods of producing the heterocystous phototrophic cyanobacteria, typically involve generating those organisms in some form of open or closed photobioreactor having varying degrees of sophistication in terms of controlling fluid dynamics. An important problem with such approaches is that the methodology has high capital costs, is quite expensive to implement and results in production costs of biofertilizer that are in excess of five or six thousand dollars per ton.

[0008] Another important limitation with producing a cyanobacteria-based biofertilizer phototrophically is that it depends on the energy from sunlight. It’s been estimated that under optimum conditions, the limiting production rate is somewhere between 20 to 25 tons of organism per acre per year. Even if the sunlight were supplemented with artificial illumination the maximum productivity under optimal conditions would be about 50 tons of organism per acre per year. The cyanobacteria make up about 4% of the weight of the formulated biofertilizer, so that the 50 tons of organism would produce a maximum of 1250 tons of biofertilizer. Thus, a 300 acre algae farm could produce a maximum of about 375,000 tons of biofertilizer per year.

[0009] The use of microwave pyrolysis to produce the nano-biochar is also expensive.

[0010] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] In order to overcome these and other disadvantages of the known methods for producing bofertil izers, there has been developed in accordance with the present invention, a much less expensive and highly efficient chemotrophic method for producing self-replicating phototrophic cyanobacteria based biofertilizers and soil amendments using simpler, less costly, and more productive commercially available reactors, typically digesters or fermentation reactors, such as three-phase continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTR’s). In accordance with this method, a strain of cyanobacteria is selected that is capable of efficiently (e.g. production rates > 10.00 g Dry Weight per square meter of reactor footprint per day) reproducing either chemotrophically or phototrophically. Species of cyanobacteria having this characteristic include anabaena cylindrica and anabaena variabilis, anabaena azollae, chlorthrix marchia, nostoc commune, nostoc sp, spirulina platensis, and others. Other species of such dual function cyanobacteria can be located by normal experimental procedures. Such cyanobacteria are chemotrophically reproduced, typically in a CSTR or bubble column reactor that contains the cyanobacteria to be reproduced in a broth containing appropriate nutrients

[0012] The cyanobacteria reproduced in the chemotrophic the reactor, however, do not contain the heterocyst centers that are ultimately responsible for nitrogen activation and the functionality that enables those organisms to replace chemical nitrogen fertilizer.

[0013] Such chemotrophically reproduced cyanobacteria are self-replicating however, and can act to stabilize the surface of the soil to which they are applied, which is an important attribute in many environments, e.g., in a desert. This is particularly the case with cyanobacteria such as anabaena cylindrica and nostoc and other microbial components of the biofertilizer that also produce polysaccharides that contribute to the ability of the cyanobacteria to form a stable crust on the surface of the soil to which they are applied.

[0014] Once the desired concentration of cyanobacteria and other biofertilizer components in the chemotrophic reactor has been reached, the cyanobacteria are then preferably separated from the CSTR or bubble column reactor broth by techniques such as normal centrifugal isolation or ultra filtration.

[0015] In order to cause the separated cyanobacteria to generate heterocysts, they are subjected, normally in a separate reactor, to a regime in which the nitrogen nutrient content is reduced to a degree and for a period of time that causes them to generate sufficient heterocysts to provide adequate nitrogen fixation performance, preferably to essentially a similar limiting concentration of heterocysts that such cyanobacteria would naturally achieve if they had been produced by a phototrophic method, typically in about from 5 to 7% of the cyanobacteria population. The degree of nutrient deprivation and length of time required (typically from about 12 to 24 hours) varies for different strains of cyanobacteria and can be determined experimentally. Thereafter, the separated product is formulated into the finished biofertilizer.

[0016] It is estimated that a CSTR or bubble column chemotrophic reactor facility capable of producing cyanobacteria for 375,000 tons of cyanobacteria-based biofertilizer per year would require, at most, a few acres of land, versus the 300 acres that would be required for producing that amount of biofertilizer by a phototrophic method. Also, the chemotrophic replication of cyanobacteria typically takes place in the dark, so that the CSTR can operate 24 hours per day, unlike phototrophic reproduction methods.

[0017] It is also possible and sometimes preferred, to simultaneously reproduce a consortium of microbes in the chemotrophic reactor, comprising cyanobacteria and one or more other microbes such as mycorrhizal fungi, rhizobacteria, azobacteria, or other bacteria that help solubilize phosphors, or provide different useful functionalities in the biofertilizer.

[0018] It has also been found in accordance with the invention that the acceleration of the cyanobacteria replication produced by the microwave pyrolysis-produced nano-biochar can be also be produced with more cost-effective particulates, such as biochar materials produced by standard thermolytic processes, or clay, such as montmorillonite, and that those materials (and the nano-biochar being collectively referred to as “acceleration particulates”) can be incorporated in the production process of the invention. A preferred form of montmorillonite clay is one that has been used as a catalyst in the process for dimerizing free fatty acids to their dimer acid analogs. Such materials have been reported for example in US 4,156,095 which is incorporated herein in its entirety. At the point where heterocyst free cyanobacteria have been produced in the CSTR or bubble column reactor, one or more of these acceleration particulates can be incorporated with the separated cyanobacteria in the second reactor, where they will act as nucleation sites for the cyanobacteria and other microbes in the reactor such that they can aggregate on the particulate centers while they are being subject to the nutrient depleted mode.

[0019] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0020] The present invention provides an efficient, cost-effective chemotrophic method for producing phototrophic cyanobacteria-based Biofertilizers. One or more selected strains cyanobacteria, such as anabaena cylindrica, that are indigenous in the type of soil in which the planned biofertilizer is intended to be used, and which are capable of efficiently reproducing either chemotrophically or phototrophically, are chemically reproduced in a reactor containing a nutrient broth and dissolved CO2, such as a bubble column or a three-phase stirred tank reactor (CSTR) such as a digester or fermentation reactor.

[0021] The broth needs to be agitated sufficiently to keep the microbes in circulation. Rates of 10-100rpm in CSTR or bubble column reactor via bubbling an inert gas or air at rates of 0.1-10.0 SHSV are sufficient. Agitation rates need to be limited to those above which damage to the cell structure of the cyanobacteria is observed (e.g., via optimal microscope and associated fluorescent imaging techniques). Maximum temperatures of the broth are also dictated by survivability considerations of the various strains of cyanobacteria, and are typically below 40°C and more preferably below 30°C.

[0022] The nutrients in the broth are selected to include the chemical components needed to support the growth and reproduction of the cyanobacteria contained therein. They can be provided e.g., in the form of a typical BG11 solution that is supplemented with organic molecules containing at least two carbon atoms, such as fructose, sucrose, glucose, glycerol, and with sources of typical fertilizer components such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulfur. These may be supplied either as commercially available chemicals or, advantageously, from animal wastes such as sterilized chicken, cow or pig manure, which inherently contains needed nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus nutrient components.

[0023] Nutrient levels in the broth should be maintained to hold the microbial production rate at a constant or increasing level as determined by light scattering or similar technologies to measure the concentration of cells being formed. Once the cell concentration rate reaches an asymptomatic level, cells should be isolated from the broth by centrifugation or similar method to maintain the steady state microbe concentration in the broth.

[0024] The microbes separated from the broth in the first production reactor are fed to a second reactor in which the level of nutrients, including N-P-K containing components, micronutrient metals such as Fe, Mn, Zn, Se and others available to them [is reduced to a low level that causes the cyanobacteria to generate heterocysts. The heterocysts enable the cyanobacteria to produce N-based nutrients for themselves, thereby facilitating further growth of the cyanobacteria population.

[0025] The conditions needed for the production of the heterocysts vary from one strain of cyanobacteria to another and need to be determined experimentally. If the degree of nutrient deprivation is too severe for a given species of cyanobacteria, the microbes will not have enough energy to generate heterocysts. If sufficient nutrient nitrogen is supplied to the cyanobacteria for them to reproduce chemotrophically, they will not need to generate any heterocysts.

[0026] It is therefore necessary to determine an optimal intermediate level of nutrient availability that is adequate for them to have sufficient energy to generate heterocysts at a commercially acceptable rate, but not enough to provide an ability for them to reproduce. This can be done, e.g., by monitoring the pH of the system. As the cyanobacteria produce heterocysts they also cause the pH of the system to increase towards an asymptotic limiting level that would exist with phototrophically produced cyanobacteria of the same species. One would experimentally adjust the degree of nutrient availability to maximize the rate of the rise of the pH level of the system towards such asymptotic limiting level.

[0027] When a chemotrophically produced biofertilizer that has not been subjected to a heterocyst producing nutrient deprivation process is applied to soil, even in desert conditions, it will slowly produce heterocysts, but a rate much too low to be of use for normal crop fertilization applications. It can be beneficial however, e.g. in desert soil surface stabilization applications, where the necessary response times are measured in months or years.

[0028] The rate of heterocyst formation may be accelerated somewhat by including a heterocyst inducing chemical such as calcium alpha-ketoglutarate (CAK) in the second reactor or by having a degree of ambient light in the reactor. The optimal balance between CAK and incident light can be established in a few experiments for each strain of cyanobacteria being produced.

[0029] Once the concentration of heterocysts has reached the desired level, the cyanobacteria products are isolated, dried and blended with the other components of the fertilizer, preferably using a vacuum drying and blending system such as an Ekato VPT. Vacuum drying is preferred, as other evaporation techniques may well heat the organisms to temperatures that will kill them. The dried biofertilizer may then be granulated into flakes.

[0030] The biofertilizer made according to the invention may contain a consortium of microbes that, in addition to the cyanobacteria, may include oner or more of other nitrogen fixing and / or phosphate solubilizing diazotrophic microorganisms such as Rhizobium, Azotobacter and Azospirillum. The concentration and composition of such diazotrophic organisms in the biofertilizer may be selected based on the composition of the soil to which the biofertilizer is to be applied and the particular crops which are to be grown therein to provide the desired amount of nitrogen fixation for the particular application.

[0031] The biofertilizer soil application rates can range from one gram of microbes per square meter to greater than 25 grams per square meter depending on soil type and soil moisture. This provides a highly leveraged effect on soil (terrestrial) carbon sequestration and greatly increases the fertility of the soil.

[0032] The biofertilizer has the important advantageous characteristic that the cyanobacteria applied to the soil, because it was selected to be compatible with the makeup of the soil to which it is applied, reproduces through photosynthesis, thereby extracting more CO2 from the atmosphere and fixing atmospheric nitrogen. This characteristic results in an increase in the net CO2 sequestered by a factor of 30 or more over the CO2 consumed during the production of cyanobacteria in the process of the invention and greatly enriches the fertility of soil.

[0033] Such biofertilizer can be used as a direct replacement for conventional ammonia-based fertilizer, where it offsets the several tons of CO2 that would otherwise be generated in production of each ton of the ammonia-based fertilizer. It also leads to other downstream benefits, such as a reduction in run-off of NH3 based components that contaminate downstream waterways and cause unwanted blooms of algae and other aquatic plants.

[0034] The biofertilizer of this invention can also be used to stabilize soil and to replenish various organic carbon-based molecules that are beneficial to plant growth. In many cases these organic molecules can stabilize soil surfaces to help them resist wind and water erosion. It has been found that some stains of cyanobacteria such as anabaena variabilis and nostoc sp, and other microbes produce significant amounts of Microcoleus vaginatus, which is an extremely important microbiotic soil component based on its frequency of occurrence and morphology. The mucilaginous encased filaments of Microcoleus vaginatus are highly effective in binding sand particles, thus reducing erosion and producing a stable substrate or crust on the surface of the soil for the colonization of cyanolichens and other microorganisms. Although Microcoleus vaginatus may not fix nitrogen directly, it is thought that its mucilaginous sheath provides an anaerobic micro-environment and carbon source for epiphytic diazotrophic bacteria.

[0035] The biofertilizer of the invention may also optionally include various admixes including microalgae, or other additives such as endophytes, which are bacteria that live between living plant cells and when applied to above ground plant growth, such as the leaves, can perform useful functions. Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus (Gd) is particularly useful for its nitrogen fixing and plant growth promoting activities. For instance, the commercially available Envita product of Azotic Technologies enables cells throughout the plant, including foliage and roots, to fix their own nitrogen. The inclusion of endophytes that specifically help cyanobacteria reproduce are preferred, and some of these are described in US 10,745,327 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The endophytes may be applied to the soil, to the surface of the seeds planted in the soil, or to the leaves of plants planted in the soil to which the biofertilizer is applied.

[0036] The biofertilizer of the invention may also include biostimulants formed from the processed extract of red marine algae. AgroGain, a biostimulant for the acceleration of the reproduction rate of cyanobacteria is especially useful.

[0037] Such admixes desirably remain physically associated with the microorganism consortium in the same relative proportions, even as the composite admix / biomass flake or powder is reduced in size by granulation. By even layering and infusing of the admix homogeneously across the solid flake or powder as the solid flake or powder is being generated, then these relative proportions of admix / biomass can be maintained during the granulation and particle coating process. Dry admix components may be further added as the biomass material begins to consolidate, which helps to mechanically consolidate them with the biomass by entrapping some of the dry admix in the filaments of the consolidating cyanobacteria.

[0038] A wet admix is typically, but not exclusively, a sugar-based composition of xero- protectants and heterotrophic consortium nutrition additive, e.g. and N or P or K containing additives such lecithin, that serve to bind and glue all the components together as it dries. Using an actual mucilage or other water soluble glue for this purpose, or a solvent based but UV degradable binder, can also be considered for this purpose. The following are optional admixes and their purpose:

[0039] 1 ) Anti-oxidants such as beta carotene can preserve the biofertilizer during the drying process and in storage.

[0040] 2) Xero-protectants such as sucrose and other sugars, or a biologically derived xero-protectant called trehalose can prevent cell damage from rapid desiccation and extended desiccation over time.

[0041] 3) Growth nutrients include micronutrients needed by all soil microorganisms as taught by Flynn including sugars to feed the non-photosynthetic cohorts during the initial stages of establishment.

[0042] 4) Sand or clay fillers serve two purposes. One is to increase the weight density of the resultant granulated particles thereby making them more aerodynamically spreadable from aircraft and land-based spreaders and resistant to wind currents. The other purpose is to provide a non-damaging location for fracture lines between the desiccated microorganisms during granulation that does not split through the microorganism itself.

[0043] 5) Spread pattern tracers may be fluorescent additives. Another tracing tag may be the use of inheritable but non-operational unique gene sequences within one of the microorganisms that will propagate at the same rate and with the same spatial characteristics as the biofertilizer propagates. This will allow a researcher or carbon credit auditor to visit a patch of soil months or years after initial application of the biofertilizer and know how much of the soil crust or under-earth biomass is directly due to the propagation and beneficial actions of the specifically tagged biofertilizer.

[0044] 6) Vascular plant seeds like restorative grasses or actual crop seeds may become part of admix. In this case the biofertilizer would be designed to work in biological concert with the embedded vascular plant seeds to achieve and maximize the desired restorative of fertilizing result.

[0045] 7) A tackifier may be added to the admix in order to quickly bind the particle with other soil grains upon first environmental wetting to prevent further shifting by wind or water erosion.

[0046] 8) Other microorganisms may be added to either the dry mix or to the wet mix. These other microorganisms may be chosen for their auxiliary properties like being a good tackifier or they may be chosen because they are an important part of the biological consortium of the biofertilizer; yet for various reasons such as growth media type incompatibility or susceptibility to predation they were not able to be co-grown in the same reactor as the rest of the biofertilizer consortium members.

[0047] 9) Biochar from the pyrolysis of biomass is added to, among other things, enhance the overall carbon content and to provide a strong adsorbent for various other mineral and cyanobacteria components. This will alter the overall water and nutrient retention potential of the formulated biofertilizer and allow it to be tailored to specific crop and geographic locations needs.

[0048] 10) Inorganic ash from biomass pyrolysis and oxidation of the resulting residue may be added to the formulated biofertilizer to control the overall K delivery potential and to adjust the overall pH of the soil to be treated. Here again, the levels can be adjusted to the needs of specific crops or soil treatment protocols.

[0049] Other inorganic elements may be added from combustion or pyrolysis related processing, especially those operated in an integrated fashion with the biofertilizer production process of this invention.

[0050] Materials containing alkali or alkaline earth metals with sulfur or nitrogen containing counterions are particularly useful. Calcium sulfate and nitrate salts, potassium nitrate and other nitrogen bearing salts are also useful. Alkali or alkaline earth salts such as sulfates, nitrates or phosphates are particularly useful.

[0051] Biologies may also be spray coated onto the exterior of the particle. In this context "biologies" can refer to whole living or dead cells or bio-active substances that affect the receptivity of the soil to being colonized by the biofertilizer microorganisms.

[0052] Alternatively, these substances may be intended to prevent the consumption or destruction of the biofertilizer by other living organisms such as insects, other microorganisms, birds or other living creatures.

[0053] The biofertilizer may be applied to damaged land using standard agricultural practices, such as crop dusting, mixing with irrigation water or applying with spreading machines. Once on the soil surface, the natural availability of carbon dioxide and nitrogen in air, along with available participation or irrigation water and sunlight, causes the biofertilizer to induct a growing colony of soil microorganisms in proportion with the suitability of growth conditions for that specific consortium of microorganisms.

[0054] The consortium of microbes in a locally adapted biofertilizer is preferably drawn from a desired target outcome soil patch that represents the best and most desired microbiological outcome for the treated soil, and that is similar in non-biological constitution and environmental factors to the soil in the area to be treated. In this way, a consortium of microorganisms can be specifically selected to manufacture a particular regional type of biofertilizer that includes microorganisms most favored to survive, thrive and fertilize on the targeted soil to be treated in that region. When this is done and the biofertilizer is spread to sufficient surface density, then the crust will reestablish at an accelerated rate well in advance of natural propagation. In land reclamation efforts, sufficient application density is approximately 0.1 to 2 biofertilizer particles per square cm.

[0055] In agricultural applications where accelerated fertilization performance is required, sufficient application density is approximately 1 to 20 biofertilizer particles per square cm. As microorganisms grow and propagate in and on the soil, their uptake of CO2 from the atmosphere increases proportionately with the population size, impinging sunlight, water availability, soil type and the occurrence of secondary vascular plant growth that might further increase the net primary productivity of the soil. The amount of CO2 drawn down from the atmosphere will vary widely dependent on these factors. It is estimated that if a crust is allowed to grow to maturity in a land reclamation application, that it will draw down from the atmosphere approximately 100 grams of CO2 per square meter per year.

Claims

ClaimsWhat is claimed is:1 . A method of producing a phototrophic cyanobacteria based biofertilizer, comprising the steps of: a. obtaining a selected strain of cyanobacteria that is capable of efficiently reproducing either chemotrophically or phototrophically; b. chemotrophically reproducing such selected strain of cyanobacteria; c. controlling the amount of nitrogen containing nutrients available to the chemotrophically reproduced cyanobacteria to be at a level that is too low to allow them to reproduce chemotropically, but is sufficient to cause at least some of them to generate heterocysts for a time period sufficient to cause the concentration cyanobacteria having heterocysts to rise to a desired level, and d. .blending the reproduced cyanobacteria with other components of the biofertilizer.

2. The method of Claim 1 in which Step b is performed in a chemotrophic reactor.

3. The method of Claim 2 in which the chemotrophic reactor contains a nutrient broth selected to include the chemical components needed to support the growth and chemotrophic reproduction of the cyanobacteria contained therein.

4. The method of Claim 2 wherein the step of controlling the amount of nitrogen containing nutrients available to the chemotrophically reproduced cyanobacteria includes a. Isolating the selected stain of cyanobacteria chemotrophically reproduced in the chemotrophic reactor; and b. placing said chemotrophically reproduced cyanobacteria into a second reactor.

5. The method of Claim 1 wherein the selected strain of cyanobacteria includes one or more of anabaena cylindrica, anabaena variabilis, anabaena azollae, chlorthrix marchia, nostoc commune, nostoc sp, and spirulina platensis.

6. The method of Claim 1 in which the other components of the biofertilizer include an acceleration particulate.

7. The method of Claim 5 wherein said acceleration particulate includes biochar or montmorillonite clay.

8. The method of Claim 2 wherein said chemotrophic reactor comprises a three- phase continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) or a bubble column reactor.

9. The method Claim 1 wherein the biofertilizer includes a consortium of microbes that, in addition to the cyanobacteria, includes one or more of rhizobacteria, azobacteria, azospirillum and other nitrogen fixing and / or phosphate solubilizing diazotrophic microorganisms.

10. The method of Claim 4 wherein rate of heterocyst formation is accelerated by including calcium alpha-ketoglutarate or other heterocyst inducing chemical in the second reactor or by having a degree of ambient light in the second reactor.11 . The method of Claim 1 wherein the biofertilizer further includes an endophyte that is applied to the soil, to the surface of the seeds planted in the soil, or to the leaves of plants planted in the soil to which the biofertilizer is applied.

12. The method of Claim 11 wherein the endophyte includes Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus.

13. The method of Claim 1 wherein the biofertilizer also contains a biostimulant formed from a processed extract of red marine algae.

14. The method of Claim 2 wherein the cyanobacteria when applied to the soil produce polysaccharides and Microcoleus vaginatus that contribute to the ability of the cyanobacteria to form a stable crust on the surface of such soil.

15. The method of Claim 3 wherein said nutrient broth includes sterilized animal manure.

16. A method of producing a cyanobacteria based biofertilizer, comprising the steps of: a. isolating a strain of cyanobacteria that is capable of efficiently reproducing chemotrophically; b. chemotrophically reproducing such isolated strain of cyanobacteria in a reactor; c. Isolating reproduced cyanobacteria from the output of the reactor; and d. blending the reproduced cyanobacteria with other nutrient components.

17. The method of Claim 16 wherein the reactor contains a nutrient broth selected to include the chemical components needed to support the growth and chemotrophic reproduction of the cyanobacteria contained therein.

18. The method of Claim 17 wherein the reactor comprises a three-phase continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) or a bubble column reactor, and biochar is blended with the reproduced cyanobacteria after it is output from the reactor.

19. The method of Claim 17 wherein the cyanobacteria applied to the soil produce polysaccharides and Microcoleus vaginatus that contribute to the ability of the cyanobacteria to form a stable crust on the surface of the soil to which they are applied.

20. The method of Claim 17 wherein the reproduced cyanobacteria phototrophically generate heterocysts when exposed to ambient lights after the biofertilizer is applied to the surface of the soil.

21. The method of Claim 17 wherein said other fertilizer components include one or more of rhizobacteria, azobacteria, and / or other microbes capable of solubilizing phosphorus.

22. The method of Claim 17 wherein said biochar is substantially free of residual polynuclear aromatics and phenolic molecules.