Carbon neutrality of forest biomass for bioenergy: a scoping review

The exploitation of forest biomass for bioenergy is commonly perceived as part of a broad strategy for climate change mitigation due to the view that for -est biomass is carbon neutral. The aims of this study are to distinguish the most widely used definition of carbon neutrality and to identify the most fre-quently discussed aspects of the concept of carbon neutrality. This research is conducted in the form of a scoping review. The results of the scoping review demonstrated that there is no generally accepted definition of carbon neutral -ity. Eight main concepts of carbon neutrality were identified. The most fre-quently discussed aspects of the carbon neutrality concept were temporal and spatial boundaries, scenario-based assumptions, and the source of biomass feedstock. This research provides a comprehensive summary of the concept of carbon neutrality and contributes to the debate regarding forest biomass ex-ploitation for bioenergy.