Glossary›Emissions accounting and measurement›Biogenic emissions
Glossary term
Cluster D · D29
Tier 2
Biogenic emissions
Definition
Biogenic emissions are greenhouse gases released from biological sources and materials, such as burning wood, biofuels, biogas or organic waste. Under the GHG Protocol, carbon dioxide from the combustion of biomass is reported separately from the scopes, while the methane and nitrous oxide from the same combustion are reported inside the relevant scope.
GHG Protocol Corporate Standard (2004)
· chapter 4 and Appendix D ·
In force
On this page
In practice
The split is the whole term and it is counter-intuitive on first reading. Burn a litre of biodiesel and three gases come out. The CO2 is reported as a separate line outside Scope 1, on the reasoning that the carbon was drawn from the atmosphere during growth. The methane and nitrous oxide are reported inside Scope 1, because they were not.
So a single fuel line splits across two places in the inventory, and a blended fuel splits three ways.
Fraction
Where it is reported
Fossil CO2
Scope 1
Biogenic CO2
A separate line outside the scopes
Non-CO2 gases from both fractions
Scope 1
Australian reporters meet this most often through blended diesel, landfill gas capture, waste-to-energy, timber and food processing, and agricultural residues.
Outside the scopes does not mean omitted. It is a required separate disclosure, not an exclusion, and this is where entities get it wrong in both directions. Some drop biogenic CO2 entirely and under-report; others fold it into Scope 1 and over-report. Neither can be corrected by a note.
The area is also moving. The GHG Protocol’s Land Sector and Removals Standard supplements the Corporate Standard and the Scope 3 Standard and sets out separate accounting for land use change, land management, biogenic products and removals. It is a supplement rather than a replacement, and it matters most to entities with agricultural, forestry or food value chains.
What the assurer does with it
The assurer’s first test is whether the biogenic line exists at all. Where an entity reports biofuel or biomass consumption and no separate biogenic CO2 figure appears, they treat it as a presentation error and ask for the split.
They then test the fraction. A blended fuel needs a documented biogenic percentage traceable to the supplier specification or the fuel standard, not an assumed one. They accept a supplier-confirmed blend percentage or a published standard specification applied consistently. They reject an assumed percentage with no source, a blend percentage carried forward from a prior year without confirming the supply did not change, and any presentation that nets biogenic CO2 against gross Scope 1.
For entities with land or forestry exposure, the follow-up is the sequestration question: whether any removal has been recognised, on what basis, and whether it has been netted against emissions anywhere. Netting a removal against a gross emissions figure is a straightforward misstatement under AASB S2, which requires absolute gross emissions.
Commonly confused with
Carbon removals and sequestration, which are the drawdown side and are accounted separately. Also confused with the assumption that biogenic means zero-emission; the non-CO2 gases are real Scope 1 emissions and biogenic CO2 is a required disclosure, not a nil.
Timing and relief
The GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard and Guidance was published in 2026 and is the document that addresses biogenic CO2, land emissions and removals. It is not mandatory for an Australian statutory reporter. AASB S2 paragraph 29(a)(ii) names the Corporate Standard (2004) and nothing else, and paragraph B23 confirms that an entity applies the 2004 document only to the extent it does not conflict with AASB S2. The Land Sector standard is therefore supplementary guidance here: useful where you have land or forestry exposure and need a defensible method, but not a source of obligation.
The GHG Protocol’s own Standard Development Plan of 29 July 2026 lists land emissions and removals as out of scope for the Corporate Standard update, on the basis that the Land Sector standard addresses them separately. So the position is stable rather than transitional: it will not be swept into the consolidated Corporate Standard.
Sources
1
Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (2004 revised edition)
GHG Protocol
2
Review status
Review required
Last reviewed
15 September 2026
Editorial pass, unsigned
Reviewer required
Carbon accounting specialist and registered company auditor
Next scheduled review
1 July 2027
Part of
Cluster D, Emissions accounting and measurement
49 terms from the head term carbon accounting down to individual Scope 3 categories and the mechanics of factors, boundaries and data quality. The largest cluster in the glossary.
Related terms
The process the separate biogenic line sits inside
Where the three-way split has to be visible line by line
Where biogenic fuel and feedstock most often enter the value chain
Related questions
What evidence do we need for each emissions number?
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Every reported number needs a source document you did not create for the report, the activity data drawn from it, the emission factor and its published edition, and the calculation joining them. Fleet fuel needs litres from fuel card statements, electricity needs kWh by site from retailer invoices with the matching state factor, and refrigerants need kilograms by gas type from service records.
Where do Australian emission factors come from?
+
The National Greenhouse Accounts Factors, published each year by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. They give Scope 1 factors by fuel and Scope 2 electricity factors by state and territory. NGER-registered corporations must use NGER measurement methods for their NGER reporting.
Other terms in this cluster
Biogenic emissions