Biomass in a Low-Carbon Economy

The report argues that while biomass is essential for a low-carbon economy, it is a limited resource constrained by land, water, and the need for ecosystem functioning. Through four scenarios, the authors demonstrate that a 'Sustainability Transition'—combining aggressive climate policy with focused agricultural productivity improvements—is the most viable path to reducing emissions without excessively increasing the agricultural footprint. The analysis highlights that future yield gains must move beyond the 'Green Revolution' strategy of increasing harvest index (shifting biomass to grain) toward increasing total photosynthetic efficiency to provide enough raw material for both food and industrial bio-materials.

• Biomass is a finite resource constrained by land and water availability, soil productivity, and the necessity of returning organic matter to the land to maintain nutrients and moisture.
• The 'Sustainability Transition' scenario is identified as the most promising path because it simultaneously addresses climate mitigation and food security, though it requires sacrificing some potential yield increases to reduce environmental impacts and restore ecosystems.
• Past yield increases during the Green Revolution primarily resulted from increasing the 'harvest index'—shifting biomass to the grain rather than increasing total plant biomass—which is a strategy that does not support the broader needs of a bio-based economy.
• Improving photosynthetic efficiency (light utilization) is the most viable target for future yield increases, with estimates suggesting that plants with 20% higher efficiency could be available in fields within 25 years through active research.
• Human appropriation of net primary productivity (HANPP) is already high, with an intermediate global estimate of 20%, suggesting that biomass is already under heavy human pressure.
• A bio-based economy is defined as a system where materials are composed almost entirely of biologically derived materials and recyclable minerals, replacing petroleum-derived plastics and fuels.
• The report notes that simply using biomass does not guarantee carbon neutrality; land conversion of high-carbon density areas (such as peatlands for palm oil) can cause significant one-time carbon releases.
• Realized agricultural yields are consistently lower than potential due to agro-ecological constraints, biotic stresses (pests/disease), and economic factors, with the minimum observed gap remaining around 20%.

APA

Kemp-Benedict, E., Kartha, S., & Fencl, A. (2012). Biomass in a Low-Carbon Economy. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate-mitigation-adaptation/sei-report-2012-3c-biomass.pdf

Chicago

Kemp-Benedict, Eric, Sivan Kartha, and Amanda Fencl. Biomass in a Low-Carbon Economy. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2012. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate-mitigation-adaptation/sei-report-2012-3c-biomass.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kemp-Benedict |first1=Eric |last2=Kartha |first2=Sivan |last3=Fencl |first3=Amanda |title=Biomass in a Low-Carbon Economy |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=2012 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate-mitigation-adaptation/sei-report-2012-3c-biomass.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kempbenedict2012biomass, author = {Kemp-Benedict, Eric and Kartha, Sivan and Fencl, Amanda}, title = {{Biomass in a Low-Carbon Economy}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2012}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate-mitigation-adaptation/sei-report-2012-3c-biomass.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }