GCCSI report – carbon negative CCS with bio-energy

- The use of bio-energy with carbon capture and storage creates the possibility of decreasing the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to a newly released Global CCS Institute report.

“Bio-energy with CCS (BECCS) is a very useful tool for the future as it is the only technology by which we can actually reduce the level of CO2 in our atmosphere, rather than stabilise it,” said Bob Pegler, Institute General Manager – Europe. “The application of BECCS would make it possible to reach agreed climate targets at lower costs, and involves opportunities to raise the ambitions for the level of emission reductions.”

BECCS works because trees and crops, when they grow, remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Using this biomass to produce energy or feed industrial processes, then capturing and permanently storing underground the CO2 released during conversion, leads to a “carbon negative” technology.

“BECCS combines the natural CO2 capture process in trees and plants, with the benefits of geological carbon storage”, said Pegler. “What sets BECCS apart as a climate mitigation measure is that it may result in permanent net negative carbon emissions.”

According to the Global Status of BECCS Projects 2010, commissioned by the Global CCS Institute and carried out by Biorecro AB, a Swedish energy consultancy, the process could be applied to a range of biomass related technologies, such as power stations, combined heat and power plants, a range of flue gas streams from the pulp industry such as from recovery boilers and lime kilns, fermentation in ethanol production and biogas refining processes.

The potential climate impact of combining biomass with CCS in BECCS systems is large, with negative emissions in the order of billions of tonnes. BECCS could also be a cost-effective technology for meeting ambitious climate targets.

However, BECCS is still a new technology and the biomass it consumes must be produced in a sustainable way, without negative impacts on food production.

The report describes the 16 first projects worldwide aiming to install a BECCS process. Most of these are in Europe and North America.

“There is an urgent need to expand the number of BECCS projects in all phases,” Pegler said. “It is often overlooked, but the current insufficient efforts in research and deployment are detrimental for climate mitigation policies in general.”

GCCSI bio-energy report

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