carbon neutral

American  

adjective

1. pertaining to or having achieved a state in which the net amount of carbon dioxide or other carbon compounds emitted into the atmosphere is reduced to zero because it is balanced by actions to reduce or offset these emissions.

   Since the administration installed solar panels, the campus has become carbon neutral;

   a carbon-neutral brewery.

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Other Word Forms

• carbon neutrality
  noun

Etymology

Origin of carbon neutral

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

Qatar vowed to distinguish the men’s World Cup 2022 soccer tournament from the rest by making it carbon neutral.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 30, 2026

France in December released a revamped roadmap to become carbon neutral by 2050.

From Barron's • Feb. 12, 2026

It also pointed to its plans to phase out its coal-fired power plants and become carbon neutral by 2040.

From BBC • May 28, 2025

It argues that burning wood is carbon neutral because when trees are cut down for fuel, new trees can be planted that effectively re-absorb the carbon dioxide released.

From BBC • Feb. 10, 2025

More recent lawsuits have taken aim at bottled water companies' claims that their products are "carbon neutral," or that their bottles are "100 percent recyclable."

From Salon • May 21, 2024