Skip to main content
Climate
Search

Main navigation

  • Climate 101
    • What We Know
    • What Can Be Done
    • Climate Primer
  • Explore
    • Podcast
    • Explainers
    • Climate Questions
    • For Educators
  • MIT Action
    • News
    • Events
    • Resources
  • Search
MIT

Main navigation

  • Climate 101
    • What We Know
    • What Can Be Done
    • Climate Primer
  • Explore
    • Podcast
    • Explainers
    • Climate Questions
    • For Educators
  • MIT Action
    • News
    • Events
    • Resources
  • Search
PostMarch 15, 2019

Burning Biomass Will Make Climate Worse

Despite being branded as "carbon neutral" - Prof. John Sterman's research shows that burning bio-mass such as wood chips is actually quite detrimental.

Sterman, in a recent MIT paper, compares carbon neutrality logic to putting $1000 in a bank that promises to give it back, in 80 years, assuming they don’t go out of business or decide to spend it on something else. “You’d be better off if you keep your money,” he wrote, and “[i]t’s better to keep the trees on the land and all that carbon out of the atmosphere.”

Read the full article on Vox

Article by Saul Elbein

by MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative
Topics
Education
Energy
Government & Policy

Related Posts

PostAugust 3, 2026

Social Problems of Nuclear Energy

MIT OCW
Photo of two large cooling towers emitting some steam.
PostAugust 3, 2026

Climate Justice Instructional Toolkit

MIT OCW
PostAugust 3, 2026

CS3 Lecture Series: Fundamentals of Climate Science and Policy

MIT OCW
Photo of session attendees watching a speaker's talk.
PostJuly 27, 2026

The Value of Storage in Electricity Distribution: The Role of Markets

MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research

MIT Climate Knowledge in Your Inbox

 
 

MIT Groups Log In

Log In

Footer

  • About
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility
  • Contact
MIT Climate Project
MIT
  • Instagram
  • TikTok
  • YouTube
  • Simplecast
Communicator Award Winner
Communicator Award Winner