Zero, one, or in between: Evaluation of alternative national and entity-level accounting for bioenergy

Accounting for bioenergy's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, as done under the Kyoto Protocol (KP) and European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme, fails to capture the full extent of these emissions. As a consequence, other approaches have been suggested. Both the EU and United States already use va...

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Autores principales: Bird, D.N., Pena, N., Zanchi, G.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/20925
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author Bird, D.N.
Pena, N.
Zanchi, G.
author_browse Bird, D.N.
Pena, N.
Zanchi, G.
author_facet Bird, D.N.
Pena, N.
Zanchi, G.
author_sort Bird, D.N.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Accounting for bioenergy's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, as done under the Kyoto Protocol (KP) and European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme, fails to capture the full extent of these emissions. As a consequence, other approaches have been suggested. Both the EU and United States already use value-chain approaches to determine emissions due to biofuels – an approach quite different from that of the KP. Further, both the EU and United States are engaged in consultation processes to determine how emissions connected with use of biomass for heat and power will be handled under regulatory systems. The United States is considering whether CO2 emissions from biomass should be handled like fossil fuels. In this context, this article reviews and evaluates the three basic bioenergy accounting options.* CO2 emissions from bioenergy are not counted at the point of combustion. Instead emissions due to use of biomass are accounted for in the land-use sector as carbon stock losses – a combustion factor (CoF) = 0 approach; * CO2 emissions from bioenergy are accounted for in the energy sector – a CoF = 1 approach; and * End users account for all or a specified subset of CO2 emissions, regardless of where geographically these emissions occur – 0 < CoF < 1. Following short descriptions of the basic options, this article discusses variations to these options and uses numerical examples to illustrate the impacts of approaches at a local and international level. Finally, the alternative accounting systems are evaluated against general criteria and for impacts on selected stakeholder goals. General criteria considered are: (a) comprehensiveness, (b) simplicity, and (c) scale independence. Stakeholder goals reviewed are: (a) stimulation of rural economies, (b) food security, (c) GHG reductions, and (d) preservation of forests.
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spelling CGSpace209252025-01-24T14:11:50Z Zero, one, or in between: Evaluation of alternative national and entity-level accounting for bioenergy Bird, D.N. Pena, N. Zanchi, G. biofuels carbon accounting carbon neutrality Accounting for bioenergy's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, as done under the Kyoto Protocol (KP) and European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme, fails to capture the full extent of these emissions. As a consequence, other approaches have been suggested. Both the EU and United States already use value-chain approaches to determine emissions due to biofuels – an approach quite different from that of the KP. Further, both the EU and United States are engaged in consultation processes to determine how emissions connected with use of biomass for heat and power will be handled under regulatory systems. The United States is considering whether CO2 emissions from biomass should be handled like fossil fuels. In this context, this article reviews and evaluates the three basic bioenergy accounting options.* CO2 emissions from bioenergy are not counted at the point of combustion. Instead emissions due to use of biomass are accounted for in the land-use sector as carbon stock losses – a combustion factor (CoF) = 0 approach; * CO2 emissions from bioenergy are accounted for in the energy sector – a CoF = 1 approach; and * End users account for all or a specified subset of CO2 emissions, regardless of where geographically these emissions occur – 0 < CoF < 1. Following short descriptions of the basic options, this article discusses variations to these options and uses numerical examples to illustrate the impacts of approaches at a local and international level. Finally, the alternative accounting systems are evaluated against general criteria and for impacts on selected stakeholder goals. General criteria considered are: (a) comprehensiveness, (b) simplicity, and (c) scale independence. Stakeholder goals reviewed are: (a) stimulation of rural economies, (b) food security, (c) GHG reductions, and (d) preservation of forests. 2011 2012-06-04T09:15:19Z 2012-06-04T09:15:19Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/20925 en Bird, D.N., Pena, N., Zanchi, G. 2011. Zero, one, or in between: Evaluation of alternative national and entity-level accounting for bioenergy . Global Change Biology ISSN: 1354-1013.
spellingShingle biofuels
carbon accounting
carbon neutrality
Bird, D.N.
Pena, N.
Zanchi, G.
Zero, one, or in between: Evaluation of alternative national and entity-level accounting for bioenergy
title Zero, one, or in between: Evaluation of alternative national and entity-level accounting for bioenergy
title_full Zero, one, or in between: Evaluation of alternative national and entity-level accounting for bioenergy
title_fullStr Zero, one, or in between: Evaluation of alternative national and entity-level accounting for bioenergy
title_full_unstemmed Zero, one, or in between: Evaluation of alternative national and entity-level accounting for bioenergy
title_short Zero, one, or in between: Evaluation of alternative national and entity-level accounting for bioenergy
title_sort zero one or in between evaluation of alternative national and entity level accounting for bioenergy
topic biofuels
carbon accounting
carbon neutrality
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/20925
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