From a global and policy perspective the potentially negative impacts of biomass use on
climate forcing must be considered. These include the effects of soot and trace gases that
are emitted into the atmosphere during combustion. Airborne transport and deposition of soot
has been implicated in the acceleration of polar ice melt, but conversely in facilitating cloud
formation and ‘global dimming’ (McConnell et al., 2007; Ramanathan et al., 2008).