IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v15y2022i24p9619-d1007677.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Why Biomass Fuels Are Principally Not Carbon Neutral

Author

Listed:
  • Gilbert Ahamer

    (Global Studies, Graz University, 8010 Graz, Austria)

Abstract

In order to realistically fulfil global and national climate protection targets, all potential measures have to be made use of to a maximum extent. Because it is readily available, biomass energy has been playing a key practical role for decades, supported by the traditional assumption of its carbon neutrality: under sustainable conditions, carbon dioxide emitted during combustion is held to be equal to its absorption during plant growth. In order to clarify conditions of carbon (C) neutrality, it is therefore necessary to model the annual natural C cycle on the entire planet and to include changes caused by a variety of growth strategies for biomass fuels. The “Combined Energy and Biosphere Model” CEBM calculates the cycle of plant growth, decay, biomass fuel production and its combustion on 2433 grid elements worldwide. CEBM results suggest that over many decades, the C pools of litter and especially soil organic carbon (i.e., humus layer) deplete considerably as a consequence of the interrupted natural carbon cycle. Overall, based on this finding, the earlier assumption of “carbon-neutral biomass fuels” is disapproved of in a long-term evaluation and—as a coarse rule of thumb—might be reduced to “half as carbon neutral as previously assumed” (when compared to a current fuel mix). On top of this principal effect, it is well known that life-cycle emissions, indirect or secondary emissions such as energy input related to production, transport and conversion into fuels will still add to this already principally highly incomplete carbon neutrality of biomass.

Suggested Citation

  • Gilbert Ahamer, 2022. "Why Biomass Fuels Are Principally Not Carbon Neutral," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-39, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:24:p:9619-:d:1007677
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/24/9619/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/24/9619/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Dutschke & Bernhard Schlamadinger & Jenny L.P. Wong & Michael Rumberg, 2005. "Value and risks of expiring carbon credits from afforestation and reforestation projects under the CDM," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 109-125, January.
    2. Gao, Chengkang & Zhu, Sulong & An, Nan & Na, Hongming & You, Huan & Gao, Chengbo, 2021. "Comprehensive comparison of multiple renewable power generation methods: A combination analysis of life cycle assessment and ecological footprint," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    3. Gilbert Ahamer, 2018. "Applying Global Databases to Foresight for Energy and Land Use: The GCDB Method," Foresight and STI Governance (Foresight-Russia till No. 3/2015), National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 12(4), pages 46-61.
    4. Ozoliņa, Signe Allena & Pakere, Ieva & Jaunzems, Dzintars & Blumberga, Andra & Grāvelsiņš, Armands & Dubrovskis, Dagnis & Daģis, Salvis, 2022. "Can energy sector reach carbon neutrality with biomass limitations?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    5. Gunatilake, Herath & Roland-Holst, David & Sugiyarto, Guntur, 2014. "Energy security for India: Biofuels, energy efficiency and food productivity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 761-767.
    6. Akimoto, Keigo & Tomoda, Toshimasa & Fujii, Yasumasa & Yamaji, Kenji, 2004. "Assessment of global warming mitigation options with integrated assessment model DNE21," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 635-653, July.
    7. Rawat, I. & Ranjith Kumar, R. & Mutanda, T. & Bux, F., 2013. "Biodiesel from microalgae: A critical evaluation from laboratory to large scale production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 444-467.
    8. Muench, Stefan & Guenther, Edeltraud, 2013. "A systematic review of bioenergy life cycle assessments," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 257-273.
    9. Kimberly M. Carlson & Lisa M. Curran & Gregory P. Asner & Alice McDonald Pittman & Simon N. Trigg & J. Marion Adeney, 2013. "Carbon emissions from forest conversion by Kalimantan oil palm plantations," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 3(3), pages 283-287, March.
    10. Gilbert Ahamer, 2021. "How to promote renewable energies to the public sphere in Eastern Europe," International Journal of Global Energy Issues, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 43(5/6), pages 477-503.
    11. Weiss, Martin & Patel, Martin & Heilmeier, Hermann & Bringezu, Stefan, 2007. "Applying distance-to-target weighing methodology to evaluate the environmental performance of bio-based energy, fuels, and materials," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 260-281.
    12. Gilbert Ahamer, 2022. "Scenarios of Systemic Transitions in Energy and Economy," Foresight and STI Governance (Foresight-Russia till No. 3/2015), National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 16(3), pages 17-34.
    13. Marland, Gregg & Schlamadinger, Bernhard, 1995. "Biomass fuels and forest-management strategies: How do we calculate the greenhouse-gas emissions benefits?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 20(11), pages 1131-1140.
    14. Amanda D. Cuellar & Howard Herzog, 2015. "A Path Forward for Low Carbon Power from Biomass," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-15, February.
    15. Brennan, Liam & Owende, Philip, 2010. "Biofuels from microalgae--A review of technologies for production, processing, and extractions of biofuels and co-products," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 557-577, February.
    16. McDonald, Jim, 2008. "Adaptive intelligent power systems: Active distribution networks," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 4346-4351, December.
    17. Pan, Ming & Aziz, Farah & Li, Baohong & Perry, Simon & Zhang, Nan & Bulatov, Igor & Smith, Robin, 2016. "Application of optimal design methodologies in retrofitting natural gas combined cycle power plants with CO2 capture," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 695-706.
    18. Wang, Chen & Raza, Syed Ali & Adebayo, Tomiwa Sunday & Yi, Sun & Shah, Muhammad Ibrahim, 2023. "The roles of hydro, nuclear and biomass energy towards carbon neutrality target in China: A policy-based analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(PA).
    19. Galyna Trypolska & Andrzej Rosner, 2022. "The Use of Solar Energy by Households and Energy Cooperatives in Post-War Ukraine: Lessons Learned from Austria," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-19, October.
    20. Suberu, Mohammed Yekini & Bashir, Nouruddeen & Mustafa, Mohd. Wazir, 2013. "Biogenic waste methane emissions and methane optimization for bioelectricity in Nigeria," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 643-654.
    21. Grubler, Arnulf & Nakicenovic, Nebojsa & Victor, David G., 1999. "Dynamics of energy technologies and global change," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 247-280, May.
    22. Levesque, Antoine & Pietzcker, Robert C. & Baumstark, Lavinia & De Stercke, Simon & Grübler, Arnulf & Luderer, Gunnar, 2018. "How much energy will buildings consume in 2100? A global perspective within a scenario framework," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 514-527.
    23. A. Baccini & S. J. Goetz & W. S. Walker & N. T. Laporte & M. Sun & D. Sulla-Menashe & J. Hackler & P. S. A. Beck & R. Dubayah & M. A. Friedl & S. Samanta & R. A. Houghton, 2012. "Estimated carbon dioxide emissions from tropical deforestation improved by carbon-density maps," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 2(3), pages 182-185, March.
    24. Gilbert Ahamer, 2021. "Major obstacles for implementing renewable energies in Ukraine," International Journal of Global Energy Issues, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 43(5/6), pages 664-691.
    25. Vasiliki Tzelepi & Myrto Zeneli & Dimitrios-Sotirios Kourkoumpas & Emmanouil Karampinis & Antonios Gypakis & Nikos Nikolopoulos & Panagiotis Grammelis, 2020. "Biomass Availability in Europe as an Alternative Fuel for Full Conversion of Lignite Power Plants: A Critical Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-26, July.
    26. Abbasi, Tasneem & Abbasi, S.A., 2010. "Biomass energy and the environmental impacts associated with its production and utilization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 919-937, April.
    27. Pandey, Rahul, 2002. "Energy policy modelling: agenda for developing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 97-106, January.
    28. Geng, Aixin & Yang, Hongqiang & Chen, Jiaxin & Hong, Yinxing, 2017. "Review of carbon storage function of harvested wood products and the potential of wood substitution in greenhouse gas mitigation," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(P1), pages 192-200.
    29. Annette Cowie & Pete Smith & Dale Johnson, 2006. "Does Soil Carbon Loss in Biomass Production Systems Negate the Greenhouse Benefits of Bioenergy?," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 11(5), pages 979-1002, September.
    30. Trypolska, Galyna, 2019. "Support scheme for electricity output from renewables in Ukraine, starting in 2030," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 227-235.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tran, Huy & Juno, Edie & Arunachalam, Saravanan, 2023. "Emissions of wood pelletization and bioenergy use in the United States," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(P2).
    2. Savelii Kukharets & Algirdas Jasinskas & Gennadii Golub & Olena Sukmaniuk & Taras Hutsol & Krzysztof Mudryk & Jonas Čėsna & Szymon Glowacki & Iryna Horetska, 2023. "The Experimental Study of the Efficiency of the Gasification Process of the Fast-Growing Willow Biomass in a Downdraft Gasifier," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-12, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Goh, Brandon Han Hoe & Ong, Hwai Chyuan & Cheah, Mei Yee & Chen, Wei-Hsin & Yu, Kai Ling & Mahlia, Teuku Meurah Indra, 2019. "Sustainability of direct biodiesel synthesis from microalgae biomass: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 59-74.
    2. López-González, D. & Puig-Gamero, M. & Acién, F.G. & García-Cuadra, F. & Valverde, J.L. & Sanchez-Silva, L., 2015. "Energetic, economic and environmental assessment of the pyrolysis and combustion of microalgae and their oils," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1752-1770.
    3. Ennaceri, Houda & Fischer, Kristina & Schulze, Agnes & Moheimani, Navid Reza, 2022. "Membrane fouling control for sustainable microalgal biodiesel production: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    4. Pooja Kandimalla & Priyanka Vatte & Chandra Sekhar Rao Bandaru, 2021. "Phycoremediation of automobile exhaust gases using green microalgae," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 6301-6322, April.
    5. Rulli, Maria Cristina & Casirati, Stefano & Dell’Angelo, Jampel & Davis, Kyle Frankel & Passera, Corrado & D’Odorico, Paolo, 2019. "Interdependencies and telecoupling of oil palm expansion at the expense of Indonesian rainforest," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 499-512.
    6. Eksi, Guner & Karaosmanoglu, Filiz, 2017. "Combined bioheat and biopower: A technology review and an assessment for Turkey," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1313-1332.
    7. Federico E. Alice‐Guier & Frits Mohren & Pieter A. Zuidema, 2020. "The life cycle carbon balance of selective logging in tropical forests of Costa Rica," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 24(3), pages 534-547, June.
    8. Severo, Ihana Aguiar & Siqueira, Stefania Fortes & Deprá, Mariany Costa & Maroneze, Mariana Manzoni & Zepka, Leila Queiroz & Jacob-Lopes, Eduardo, 2019. "Biodiesel facilities: What can we address to make biorefineries commercially competitive?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 686-705.
    9. Razzak, Shaikh Abdur & Ali, Saad Aldin M. & Hossain, Mohammad Mozahar & deLasa, Hugo, 2017. "Biological CO2 fixation with production of microalgae in wastewater – A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 379-390.
    10. Marwa G. Saad & Noura S. Dosoky & Mohamed S. Zoromba & Hesham M. Shafik, 2019. "Algal Biofuels: Current Status and Key Challenges," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-22, May.
    11. Muthu Ganesan Rajaram & Subramani Nagaraj & Manubolu Manjunath & Annakkili Baskara Boopathy & Chidambaram Kurinjimalar & Ramasamy Rengasamy & Thanasekaran Jayakumar & Joen-Rong Sheu & Jiun-Yi Li, 2018. "Biofuel and Biochemical Analysis of Amphora coffeaeformis RR03, a Novel Marine Diatom, Cultivated in an Open Raceway Pond," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-12, May.
    12. Esveidi Montserrat Valdovinos-García & Juan Barajas-Fernández & María de los Ángeles Olán-Acosta & Moisés Abraham Petriz-Prieto & Adriana Guzmán-López & Micael Gerardo Bravo-Sánchez, 2020. "Techno-Economic Study of CO 2 Capture of a Thermoelectric Plant Using Microalgae ( Chlorella vulgaris ) for Production of Feedstock for Bioenergy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-19, January.
    13. Martín, Lucas A. & Popovich, Cecilia A. & Martinez, Ana M. & Damiani, María C. & Leonardi, Patricia I., 2016. "Oil assessment of Halamphora coffeaeformis diatom growing in a hybrid two-stage system for biodiesel production," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 127-135.
    14. Sun, Zhe & Zhou, Zhi, 2019. "Nature-inspired virus-assisted algal cell disruption for cost-effective biofuel production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 1-1.
    15. Shi, Yusheng & Sasai, Takahiro & Yamaguchi, Yasushi, 2014. "Spatio-temporal evaluation of carbon emissions from biomass burning in Southeast Asia during the period 2001–2010," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 272(C), pages 98-115.
    16. Mariana Abreu & Alberto Reis & Patrícia Moura & Ana Luisa Fernando & António Luís & Lídia Quental & Pedro Patinha & Francisco Gírio, 2020. "Evaluation of the Potential of Biomass to Energy in Portugal—Conclusions from the CONVERTE Project," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-32, February.
    17. Peter, Angela Paul & Koyande, Apurav Krishna & Chew, Kit Wayne & Ho, Shih-Hsin & Chen, Wei-Hsin & Chang, Jo-Shu & Krishnamoorthy, Rambabu & Banat, Fawzi & Show, Pau Loke, 2022. "Continuous cultivation of microalgae in photobioreactors as a source of renewable energy: Current status and future challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    18. Rout, Ullash K. & Akimoto, Keigo & Sano, Fuminori & Tomoda, Toshimasa, 2010. "Introduction of subsidisation in nascent climate-friendly learning technologies and evaluation of its effectiveness," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 520-532, January.
    19. Kligerman, Debora Cynamon & Bouwer, Edward J., 2015. "Prospects for biodiesel production from algae-based wastewater treatment in Brazil: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1834-1846.
    20. Muhammad Hanafi Azami & Mark Savill, 2017. "Pulse Detonation Assessment for Alternative Fuels," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-19, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:24:p:9619-:d:1007677. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.