What are biogenic emissions?

Biogenic emissions refer to the combustion of biological material, such as wood, food waste and manure. Some examples of biogenic fuels are HVO and wood pellets. Different types of biogenic fuels are used depending on whether the combustion is for powering a vehicle or used as district heating for a building.

In addition to combustion, biogenic emissions can also occur during land-use change, such as deforestation, where the land releases biogenic emissions. An example of a land-use change is when a forest is cut down to make way for new arable land. This article focuses on emissions from combustion.

How do biogenic emissions differ from fossil emissions?

Biogenic emissions are part of the cycle between carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the amount absorbed by plants and other biological material (sometimes referred to as the green carbon cycle). Over a 100-year period, no new greenhouse gases should be added to the atmosphere. In practice, this means that the carbon dioxide from a burnt tree should be absorbed in a new tree within this time period.

Fossil emissions originate from a historical cycle (sometimes referred to as the black carbon cycle) where fuels were stored and formed over millions of years. All combustion increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but today's short cycle cannot absorb the equivalent amount fast enough, contributing to the greenhouse gas effect.

Biogenic emissions - important to include in your sustainability reporting

How are biogenic emissions calculated?

In the same way that fossil emissions are calculated, emission factors - emission factors - are used for biogenic emissions. For example, it can be kilograms of biogenic carbon dioxide per liter of HVO burned by a vehicle. The number of emission factors for biogenic emissions is more limited compared to fossil emissions, and currently exists mainly for activities belonging to the Greenhouse Gas Protocols - GHG Procotols - Scope 1 and Scope 2.

How are biogenic emissions reported?

In climate calculations according to the GHG Protocol standard, biogenic emissions must be reported separately from fossil emissions. Instead of mixing fossil and biogenic emissions, biogenic emissions must be reported in a separate table in, for example, climate accounts. This is because biogenic emissions are generally "zeroed out" in climate calculations because the emissions belong to the current carbon cycle and do not contribute to the greenhouse gas effect over a 100-year period.

Accounting for biogenic emissions separately is still useful for other purposes, for example to be transparent with all types of emissions regardless of their origin. For example, this may be relevant if your company switches from gasoline to HVO.

Carbon dioxide emissions from biogenic sources.

Which sustainability reporting standards ask for biogenic emissions?

Biogenic emissions and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol

For climate calculations, it is mainly the ESG standard GHG Protocol that is used, more specifically "Corporate Standard" and "Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard". In this standard, biogenic emissions are to be excluded or reported separately from fossil fuel emissions.

Biogenic emissions and SBTi

When companies set science-based emission reduction targets, the Science Based Targets standard is often used. The targets focus primarily on reducing fossil fuel emissions, but if the company has biogenic emissions, these must also be reported and included in the target.

Biogenic emissions and CSRD

For reporting under the EU CSRD and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), companies must disclose the amount of biogenic emissions they have that belong to scope 1, scope 2 and scope 3. If biogenic emissions for any of the scopes are not available or not material to the business, this must be justified.

Regardless of the fossil or biogenic source, we can help you calculate your climate impact, both at product and operational level.