Carbon Neutral Activities

A carbon neutral activity has no overall annual carbon emissions to the atmosphere. The CO₂ released is balanced by the same amount of CO₂ being taken in.Biofuels such as bioethanol are often described as carbon neutral. The crops absorb CO₂ by photosynthesis as they grow: 6CO₂ + 6H₂O → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂The glucose is fermented to ethanol, releasing 2 CO₂, and burning the ethanol releases a further 4 CO₂. In total 6 CO₂ are released, the same as the 6 CO₂ taken in.In practice biofuels are not completely carbon neutral. Fossil fuels are used to run farm machinery, make fertilisers, and transport and distil the fuel. Growing fuel crops also uses land that could be used for food.