Carbon neutrality of forest biomass for bioenergy: a scoping review

doi:10.3832/ifor4160-015

Carbon neutrality of forest biomass for bioenergy: a scoping review

Egor Selivanov^(1-2), Pavel Cudlín⁽¹⁾, Petr Horáček⁽³⁾

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 16, Issue 2, Pages 70-77 (2023)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor4160-015
Published: Mar 05, 2023 - Copyright © 2023 SISEF

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The exploitation of forest biomass for bioenergy is commonly perceived as part of a broad strategy for climate change mitigation due to the view that forest biomass is carbon neutral. The aims of this study are to distinguish the most widely used definition of carbon neutrality and to identify the most frequently discussed aspects of the concept of carbon neutrality. This research is conducted in the form of a scoping review. The results of the scoping review demonstrated that there is no generally accepted definition of carbon neutrality. Eight main concepts of carbon neutrality were identified. The most frequently discussed aspects of the carbon neutrality concept were temporal and spatial boundaries, scenario-based assumptions, and the source of biomass feedstock. This research provides a comprehensive summary of the concept of carbon neutrality and contributes to the debate regarding forest biomass exploitation for bioenergy.

Keywords

Bioenergy, Biofuels, Carbon Cycle, Climate Change, Forest Residues, Life Cycle Assessment

Authors’ address

(1)

0000-0002-5001-3163
0000-0003-1464-5160
Department of Ecosystem Functional Analysis of the Landscape, Global Change Research Institute CAS, Belidla 986/4a, 603 00, Brno (Czech Republic)

(2)

0000-0002-5001-3163
Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemedelska 3, 613 00, Brno (Czech Republic)

(3)

0000-0002-7097-4877
Department of Xylogenesis and Biomass Allocation, Global Change Research Institute CAS, Belidla 986/4a, 603 00, Brno (Czech Republic)

Corresponding author

selivanov.e@czechglobe.cz

Citation

Selivanov E, Cudlín P, Horáček P (2023). Carbon neutrality of forest biomass for bioenergy: a scoping review. iForest 16: 70-77. - doi: 10.3832/ifor4160-015

Academic Editor

Giorgio Alberti

Paper history

Received: Jun 17, 2022
Accepted: Dec 10, 2022

First online: Mar 05, 2023
Publication Date: Apr 30, 2023
Publication Time: 2.83 months

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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