carbon-neutral

adjective

car·​bon-neu·​tral

variants or carbon neutral

: having or resulting in no net addition of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere

Wood-fired electricity qualifies as carbon-neutral because the carbon dioxide the generators emit would have been released anyway as trees die and decompose.

—Boston Globe, 8 May 2009

: counterbalancing the emission of carbon dioxide with carbon offsets

… advertises itself as the first carbon-neutral polymer producer—though to meet that claim it has to purchase carbon offset certificates for the energy needed for the process.

—Jessica Marshall, New Scientist, 7 July 2007

carbon neutrality noun

Word History

First Known Use

1992, in the meaning defined above

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