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.

---

Other Word Forms

• carbon neutrality
  noun

Etymology

Origin of carbon neutral

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

carbon neutral

The city is also working toward a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2045.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026

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

From Barron's ● Feb. 12, 2026

"This fitted in with our carbon neutral agenda. But also it was a low noise, cost-effective way of maintaining the land," the director of customer and communities added.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2025

Since the carbon dioxide released when burning bio-methane originates in the atmosphere rather than underground, it is considered carbon neutral.

From BBC ● Dec. 30, 2024

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