Carbon neutral
From BioenergyWiki
Bioenergy > Issues > Climate change > Carbon neutral
The term "carbon-neutral" refers to a product having a balance of zero between the amount of carbon absorbed and the amount of carbon released from / to the atmosphere during the production of the product. This balance may be influenced by considering a "carbon-offset" in addition to the product itself. In the case of biofuels "the only carbon released is the carbon that was captured from the atmosphere when the biofuel was growing" as per the definition given on What_is_bioenergy. However, the production of the feedstocks, the conversion of land for producing the feedstocks, as well as the production process may not be carbon neutral. Therefore, A life-cycle analysis of the whole production chain for biofuels is needed to determine how carbon-neutral any form of bioenergy is.
Whenever more carbon is removed by a product than released, the product can be considered carbon-negative .
A Carbon Footprint, usually expressed in tonnes of carbon, can be calculated for products, companies or entire societies.
Projects
The Climate Group, London, http://theclimategroup.org , is developing a definition as part of its project Carbon Stewardship Council. Currently it gives a starting definition of “carbon neutrality” as the “net zero carbon footprint obtained through a combination of direct emission reductions and offsets”. Whether enough direct emission reductions are used is controversial.[1]
The Carbon Trust, London, explains its project on “carbon neutrality”, Link to movie.
The connection between sustainable biofuels and standards for carbon neutrality is evident in this biomass power plant project in India. It is run on sugar cane waste and its credits are sold as the first Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) from a Gold Standard validated and verified project. Link to movie.
Notes
- ↑ Thomas Ruddy - personal observation (See relevant edit history)
