Organic Carbon vs Total Carbon
ASTM-D6866 was written for the US Department of Agriculture to provide a measure of renewable carbon to total organic carbon within carbon containing solids, liquids, and gases. The term "biobased" is therein defined as "total renewable carbon to total ORGANIC carbon". To be within the exact specification requirements of ASTM-D6866, the carbonate component must be eliminated from the final calculation of biobased content when it does not originate from organic sources. Non-organic sources include limestone, dolomite, siderite and any other source of carbon originating from mineral precipitation.
Applications for ASTM-D6866 are realized in other industry sectors wherein carbonate can and should be included within the final calculations. These include biogenic emissions from combustors and incinerators, the cement industry, and the paper and pulp industries. As such, ASTM-D6866 is directly applicable to making a precise determination for renewable carbon content. A single measurement relating "total renewable carbon to TOTAL carbon" is readily available from an ASTM-D6866 analysis. However, the end user must consider that including the carbonate in the result does not conform specifically to the definition of "biobased" per the ASTM-D6866 standard. The inconsistency may be overcome by simply defining the result with another term (e.g. biomass CO2, renewable carbon content per carbon-14 analysis, etc).
This inconsistency in application of the carbon-14 analysis as defined by ASTM-D6866 to other industry sectors is under discussion and review within the ASTM organization.
When submitting materials for ASTM-D6866 analysis, the submitter should inform the laboratory if carbonate should or should-not be included within the calculated results.
If measurement and calculation of carbonate content is required, the cost of analysis is doubled. If the origin of the carbonate is known to be fossil, a lower cost option is available using the carbonate percentage within the analyzed material. And where carbonate is to be included in the result, no additional costs are incurred in the analysis.
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