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I would imagine it is fairly carbon neutral... you are burning things that grew over the last year. You aren't releasing new carbon into the air.
by cortesoft 6y ago
I would imagine it is fairly carbon neutral... you are burning things that grew over the last year. You aren't releasing new carbon into the air.
- ry_co 6y agoThis isn't quite right. Technically it's carbon neutral, but the alternative method is carbon negative, as a larger portion of decaying matter will sequester carbon into the soil than would if you didn't burn. So the reality is that this is not carbon neutral compared to the alternative. Of course, there could be some hidden factor I'm missing, as biological systems are complex.
- ip26 6y agobiochar is actually considered a carbon sink, because the carbon is not readily released, unlike organic carbon.
- mc32 6y agoSo burning forests or seasonal burning like in Indonesia is carbon neutral from that perspective?
- cortesoft 6y agoSeasonal burning probably is carbon neutral. Burning forests, not so much (at least by standard definitions of carbon neutral). 'Carbon neutral' requires a reference frame; we usually mean from the perspective of the people doing the carbon releasing. If you burn a forest that you planted, you are carbon neutral. If you burn a forest that has been there for centuries, you are not carbon neutral.