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

Time Traveler

The first known use of carbon-neutral was in 1992

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Carbon-neutral.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/carbon-neutral. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

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