IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v45y2012icp18-23.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Correcting a fundamental error in greenhouse gas accounting related to bioenergy

Author

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

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Haberl, Helmut & Sprinz, Detlef & Bonazountas, Marc & Cocco, Pierluigi & Desaubies, Yves & Henze, Mogens & Hertel, Ole & Johnson, Richard K. & Kastrup, Ulrike & Laconte, Pierre & Lange, Eckart & Novak, 2012. "Correcting a fundamental error in greenhouse gas accounting related to bioenergy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 18-23.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:45:y:2012:i:c:p:18-23
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.02.051
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421512001681
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.02.051?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nicolas Gruber & James N. Galloway, 2008. "An Earth-system perspective of the global nitrogen cycle," Nature, Nature, vol. 451(7176), pages 293-296, January.
    2. Cherubini, Francesco & Strømman, Anders H. & Hertwich, Edgar, 2011. "Effects of boreal forest management practices on the climate impact of CO2 emissions from bioenergy," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 223(1), pages 59-66.
    3. Karl-Heinz Erb & Simone Gingrich & Fridolin Krausmann & Helmut Haberl, 2008. "Industrialization, Fossil Fuels, and the Transformation of Land Use," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 12(5-6), pages 686-703, October.
    4. Jonathan A. Foley & Navin Ramankutty & Kate A. Brauman & Emily S. Cassidy & James S. Gerber & Matt Johnston & Nathaniel D. Mueller & Christine O’Connell & Deepak K. Ray & Paul C. West & Christian Balz, 2011. "Solutions for a cultivated planet," Nature, Nature, vol. 478(7369), pages 337-342, October.
    5. Krausmann, Fridolin & Erb, Karl-Heinz & Gingrich, Simone & Lauk, Christian & Haberl, Helmut, 2008. "Global patterns of socioeconomic biomass flows in the year 2000: A comprehensive assessment of supply, consumption and constraints," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 471-487, April.
    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. Holtsmark, Bjart & Hoel, Michael & Holtsmark, Katinka, 2013. "Optimal harvest age considering multiple carbon pools – A comment," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 87-95.
    2. Searchinger, Timothy D. & Beringer, Tim & Strong, Asa, 2017. "Does the world have low-carbon bioenergy potential from the dedicated use of land?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 434-446.
    3. Ekholm, Tommi & Karvosenoja, Niko & Tissari, Jarkko & Sokka, Laura & Kupiainen, Kaarle & Sippula, Olli & Savolahti, Mikko & Jokiniemi, Jorma & Savolainen, Ilkka, 2014. "A multi-criteria analysis of climate, health and acidification impacts due to greenhouse gases and air pollution—The case of household-level heating technologies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 499-509.
    4. Baudry, Gino & Delrue, Florian & Legrand, Jack & Pruvost, Jérémy & Vallée, Thomas, 2017. "The challenge of measuring biofuel sustainability: A stakeholder-driven approach applied to the French case," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 933-947.
    5. Mao, Chunlan & Feng, Yongzhong & Wang, Xiaojiao & Ren, Guangxin, 2015. "Review on research achievements of biogas from anaerobic digestion," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 540-555.
    6. Haberl, Helmut & Kastner, Thomas & Schaffartzik, Anke & Ludwiczek, Nikolaus & Erb, Karl-Heinz, 2012. "Global effects of national biomass production and consumption: Austria's embodied HANPP related to agricultural biomass in the year 2000," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 66-73.
    7. Drünert, Sebastian & Neuling, Ulf & Zitscher, Tjerk & Kaltschmitt, Martin, 2020. "Power-to-Liquid fuels for aviation – Processes, resources and supply potential under German conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    8. Cohen, Gail & Jalles, Joao Tovar & Loungani, Prakash & Marto, Ricardo & Wang, Gewei, 2019. "Decoupling of emissions and GDP: Evidence from aggregate and provincial Chinese data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 105-118.
    9. Holtsmark, Bjart, 2013. "Boreal forest management and its effect on atmospheric CO2," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 248(C), pages 130-134.
    10. Schaffartzik, Anke & Plank, Christina & Brad, Alina, 2014. "Ukraine and the great biofuel potential? A political material flow analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 12-21.
    11. Capellán-Pérez, Iñigo & Mediavilla, Margarita & de Castro, Carlos & Carpintero, Óscar & Miguel, Luis Javier, 2014. "Fossil fuel depletion and socio-economic scenarios: An integrated approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 641-666.
    12. Trainer, Ted, 2012. "Can Australia run on renewable energy? The negative case," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 306-314.
    13. Ping, Xiaoge & Jiang, Zhigang & Li, Chunwang, 2012. "Social and ecological effects of biomass utilization and the willingness to use clean energy in the eastern Qinghai–Tibet plateau," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 828-833.
    14. Erb, Karl-Heinz & Haberl, Helmut & Plutzar, Christoph, 2012. "Dependency of global primary bioenergy crop potentials in 2050 on food systems, yields, biodiversity conservation and political stability," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 260-269.
    15. Repo, Anna & Ahtikoski, Anssi & Liski, Jari, 2015. "Cost of turning forest residue bioenergy to carbon neutral," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 12-21.
    16. Madurai Elavarasan, Rajvikram & Pugazhendhi, Rishi & Irfan, Muhammad & Mihet-Popa, Lucian & Khan, Irfan Ahmad & Campana, Pietro Elia, 2022. "State-of-the-art sustainable approaches for deeper decarbonization in Europe – An endowment to climate neutral vision," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    17. Gendek, Arkadiusz & Piętka, Jacek & Aniszewska, Monika & Malaťák, Jan & Velebil, Jan & Tamelová, Barbora & Krilek, Jozef & Moskalik, Tadeusz, 2023. "Energy value of silver fir (Abies alba) and Norway spruce (Picea abies) wood depending on the degree of its decomposition by selected fungal species," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    18. Benedek, József & Sebestyén, Tihamér-Tibor & Bartók, Blanka, 2018. "Evaluation of renewable energy sources in peripheral areas and renewable energy-based rural development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 516-535.
    19. Lintunen, Jussi & Uusivuori, Jussi, 2016. "On the economics of forests and climate change: Deriving optimal policies," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 130-156.
    20. Barrette, Julie & Thiffault, Evelyne & Achim, Alexis & Junginger, Martin & Pothier, David & De Grandpré, Louis, 2017. "A financial analysis of the potential of dead trees from the boreal forest of eastern Canada to serve as feedstock for wood pellet export," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 410-425.
    21. de Castro, Carlos & Carpintero, Óscar & Frechoso, Fernando & Mediavilla, Margarita & de Miguel, Luis J., 2014. "A top-down approach to assess physical and ecological limits of biofuels," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 506-512.

    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. Gavrilova, Olga & Jonas, Matthias & Erb, Karlheinz & Haberl, Helmut, 2010. "International trade and Austria's livestock system: Direct and hidden carbon emission flows associated with production and consumption of products," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 920-929, February.
    2. Smith, Nicola J & McDonald, Garry W & Patterson, Murray G, 2020. "Biogeochemical cycling in the anthropocene: Quantifying global environment-economy exchanges," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 418(C).
    3. Niedertscheider, Maria & Kuemmerle, Tobias & Müller, Daniel & Erb, Karl-Heinz, 2014. "Exploring the effects of drastic institutional and socio-economic changes on land system dynamics in Germany between 1883 and 2007," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 28, pages 98-108.
    4. Bruckner, Martin & Fischer, Günther & Tramberend, Sylvia & Giljum, Stefan, 2015. "Measuring telecouplings in the global land system: A review and comparative evaluation of land footprint accounting methods," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 11-21.
    5. Hankerson, Brett R. & Schierhorn, Florian & Prishchepov, Alexander V. & Dong, Changxing & Eisfelder, Christina & Müller, Daniel, 2019. "Modeling the spatial distribution of grazing intensity in Kazakhstan," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 14(1), pages 1-27.
    6. Rommel, Jens & Anggraini, Eva, 2018. "Spatially explicit framed field experiments on ecosystem services governance," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 34(PB), pages 201-205.
    7. Ascui, Francisco & Ball, Alex & Kahn, Lewis & Rowe, James, 2021. "Is operationalising natural capital risk assessment practicable?," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    8. Zeke Marshall & Paul E. Brockway, 2020. "A Net Energy Analysis of the Global Agriculture, Aquaculture, Fishing and Forestry System," Biophysical Economics and Resource Quality, Springer, vol. 5(2), pages 1-27, June.
    9. Shen Yuan & Shaobing Peng, 2017. "Exploring the Trends in Nitrogen Input and Nitrogen Use Efficiency for Agricultural Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-15, October.
    10. Keikha, Mahdi & Darzi- Naftchali, Abdullah & Motevali, Ali & Valipour, Mohammad, 2023. "Effect of nitrogen management on the environmental and economic sustainability of wheat production in different climates," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    11. Meike Weltin & Silke Hüttel, 2023. "Sustainable Intensification Farming as an Enabler for Farm Eco-Efficiency?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 84(1), pages 315-342, January.
    12. Auguères, Anne-Sophie & Loreau, Michel, 2016. "Biotic regulation of non-limiting nutrient pools and coupling of biogeochemical cycles," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 334(C), pages 1-7.
    13. Xiaochen Lu & Binjie Li & Guangsheng Chen, 2023. "Responses of Soil CO 2 Emission and Tree Productivity to Nitrogen and Phosphorus Additions in a Nitrogen-Rich Subtropical Chinese Fir Plantation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-15, June.
    14. Law, Elizabeth A. & Macchi, Leandro & Baumann, Matthias & Decarre, Julieta & Gavier-Pizarro, Gregorio & Levers, Christian & Mastrangelo, Matías E. & Murray, Francisco & Müller, Daniel & Piquer-Rodrígu, 2021. "Fading opportunities for mitigating agriculture-environment trade-offs in a south American deforestation hotspot," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 262.
    15. Ongolo, Symphorien & Giessen, Lukas & Karsenty, Alain & Tchamba, Martin & Krott, Max, 2021. "Forestland policies and politics in Africa: Recent evidence and new challenges," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    16. Marcela Prokopová & Luca Salvati & Gianluca Egidi & Ondřej Cudlín & Renata Včeláková & Radek Plch & Pavel Cudlín, 2019. "Envisioning Present and Future Land-Use Change under Varying Ecological Regimes and Their Influence on Landscape Stability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-24, August.
    17. James J Elser & Timothy J Elser & Stephen R Carpenter & William A Brock, 2014. "Regime Shift in Fertilizer Commodities Indicates More Turbulence Ahead for Food Security," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(5), pages 1-7, May.
    18. Vogel, Everton & Martinelli, Gabrielli & Artuzo, Felipe Dalzotto, 2021. "Environmental and economic performance of paddy field-based crop-livestock systems in Southern Brazil," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    19. Abdulai, Issaka & Hoffmann, Munir P. & Jassogne, Laurence & Asare, Richard & Graefe, Sophie & Tao, Hsiao-Hang & Muilerman, Sander & Vaast, Philippe & Van Asten, Piet & Läderach, Peter & Rötter, Reimun, 2020. "Variations in yield gaps of smallholder cocoa systems and the main determining factors along a climate gradient in Ghana," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    20. Qian Sun & Mingjie Wu & Peiyu Du & Wei Qi & Xinyang Yu, 2022. "Spatial Layout Optimization and Simulation of Cultivated Land Based on the Life Community Theory in a Mountainous and Hilly Area of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-15, 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:eee:enepol:v:45:y:2012:i:c:p:18-23. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    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.