Correcting a fundamental error in greenhouse gas accounting related to bioenergy

Helmut Haberl; Detlef Spinz; Marc Bonazoountas; Pierluigi Cocco; Yves Desaubier; Mogens Henze; Ole Hertel; Richard K. Johnson; Ulrike Kastrup; Pierre Laconte; Eckart Lange; Peter Novak; Jouni Paavola; Anette Reenberg; Sybille van den Hove; Theo Vermeire; Peter Wadhams; Timothy Searchinger

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2012.02.051

Correcting a fundamental error in greenhouse gas accounting related to bioenergy

Helmut Haberl, Detlef Spinz, Marc Bonazoountas, Pierluigi Cocco, Yves Desaubier, Mogens Henze, Ole Hertel, Richard K. Johnson, Ulrike Kastrup, Pierre Laconte, Eckart Lange, Peter Novak, Jouni Paavola, Anette Reenberg, Sybille van den Hove, Theo Vermeire, Peter Wadhams, Timothy Searchinger

Geology

127 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Many international policies encourage a switch from fossil fuels to bioenergy based on the premise that its use would not result in carbon accumulation in the atmosphere. Frequently cited bioenergy goals would at least double the present global human use of plant material, the production of which already requires the dedication of roughly 75% of vegetated lands and more than 70% of water withdrawals. However, burning biomass for energy provision increases the amount of carbon in the air just like burning coal, oil or gas if harvesting the biomass decreases the amount of carbon stored in plants and soils, or reduces carbon sequestration. Neglecting this fact results in an accounting error that could be corrected by considering that only the use of 'additional biomass' - biomass from additional plant growth or biomass that would decompose rapidly if not used for bioenergy - can reduce carbon emissions. Failure to correct this accounting flaw will likely have substantial adverse consequences. The article presents recommendations for correcting greenhouse gas accounts related to bioenergy.

Original language	English
Journal	Energy Policy
Volume	45
Pages (from-to)	18-23
Number of pages	6
ISSN	0301-4215
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.02.051
Publication status	Published - Jun 2012

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Haberl, H., Spinz, D., Bonazoountas, M., Cocco, P., Desaubier, Y., Henze, M., Hertel, O., Johnson, R. K., Kastrup, U., Laconte, P., Lange, E., Novak, P., Paavola, J., Reenberg, A., Hove, S. V. D., Vermeire, T., Wadhams, P., & Searchinger, T. (2012). Correcting a fundamental error in greenhouse gas accounting related to bioenergy. Energy Policy, 45, 18-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.02.051

Haberl, H, Spinz, D, Bonazoountas, M, Cocco, P, Desaubier, Y, Henze, M, Hertel, O, Johnson, RK, Kastrup, U, Laconte, P, Lange, E, Novak, P, Paavola, J, Reenberg, A, Hove, SVD, Vermeire, T, Wadhams, P & Searchinger, T 2012, 'Correcting a fundamental error in greenhouse gas accounting related to bioenergy', Energy Policy, vol. 45, pp. 18-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.02.051

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title = "Correcting a fundamental error in greenhouse gas accounting related to bioenergy",

abstract = "Many international policies encourage a switch from fossil fuels to bioenergy based on the premise that its use would not result in carbon accumulation in the atmosphere. Frequently cited bioenergy goals would at least double the present global human use of plant material, the production of which already requires the dedication of roughly 75% of vegetated lands and more than 70% of water withdrawals. However, burning biomass for energy provision increases the amount of carbon in the air just like burning coal, oil or gas if harvesting the biomass decreases the amount of carbon stored in plants and soils, or reduces carbon sequestration. Neglecting this fact results in an accounting error that could be corrected by considering that only the use of 'additional biomass' - biomass from additional plant growth or biomass that would decompose rapidly if not used for bioenergy - can reduce carbon emissions. Failure to correct this accounting flaw will likely have substantial adverse consequences. The article presents recommendations for correcting greenhouse gas accounts related to bioenergy.",

author = "Helmut Haberl and Detlef Spinz and Marc Bonazoountas and Pierluigi Cocco and Yves Desaubier and Mogens Henze and Ole Hertel and Johnson, {Richard K.} and Ulrike Kastrup and Pierre Laconte and Eckart Lange and Peter Novak and Jouni Paavola and Anette Reenberg and Hove, {Sybille van den} and Theo Vermeire and Peter Wadhams and Timothy Searchinger",

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AU - Haberl, Helmut

AU - Spinz, Detlef

AU - Bonazoountas, Marc

AU - Cocco, Pierluigi

AU - Desaubier, Yves

AU - Henze, Mogens

AU - Hertel, Ole

AU - Johnson, Richard K.

AU - Kastrup, Ulrike

AU - Laconte, Pierre

AU - Lange, Eckart

AU - Novak, Peter

AU - Paavola, Jouni

AU - Reenberg, Anette

AU - Hove, Sybille van den

AU - Vermeire, Theo

AU - Wadhams, Peter

AU - Searchinger, Timothy

PY - 2012/6

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N2 - Many international policies encourage a switch from fossil fuels to bioenergy based on the premise that its use would not result in carbon accumulation in the atmosphere. Frequently cited bioenergy goals would at least double the present global human use of plant material, the production of which already requires the dedication of roughly 75% of vegetated lands and more than 70% of water withdrawals. However, burning biomass for energy provision increases the amount of carbon in the air just like burning coal, oil or gas if harvesting the biomass decreases the amount of carbon stored in plants and soils, or reduces carbon sequestration. Neglecting this fact results in an accounting error that could be corrected by considering that only the use of 'additional biomass' - biomass from additional plant growth or biomass that would decompose rapidly if not used for bioenergy - can reduce carbon emissions. Failure to correct this accounting flaw will likely have substantial adverse consequences. The article presents recommendations for correcting greenhouse gas accounts related to bioenergy.

AB - Many international policies encourage a switch from fossil fuels to bioenergy based on the premise that its use would not result in carbon accumulation in the atmosphere. Frequently cited bioenergy goals would at least double the present global human use of plant material, the production of which already requires the dedication of roughly 75% of vegetated lands and more than 70% of water withdrawals. However, burning biomass for energy provision increases the amount of carbon in the air just like burning coal, oil or gas if harvesting the biomass decreases the amount of carbon stored in plants and soils, or reduces carbon sequestration. Neglecting this fact results in an accounting error that could be corrected by considering that only the use of 'additional biomass' - biomass from additional plant growth or biomass that would decompose rapidly if not used for bioenergy - can reduce carbon emissions. Failure to correct this accounting flaw will likely have substantial adverse consequences. The article presents recommendations for correcting greenhouse gas accounts related to bioenergy.

U2 - 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.02.051

DO - 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.02.051

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 23576835

SN - 0301-4215

VL - 45

SP - 18

EP - 23

JO - Energy Policy

JF - Energy Policy

ER -

Correcting a fundamental error in greenhouse gas accounting related to bioenergy

Abstract

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