Report outlines negative emissions plan

A new climate report highlights the importance systems that combine biomass energy generation with carbon capture and storage (CCS).

Written by a team from Stanford University’s Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP) the report argues that the development of so-called BECCS technologies (Bioeenergy with carbon capture and storage) will be essential to reach energy targets.

“Net negative emissions can be achieved when more greenhouse gases are sequestered than are released into the atmosphere,” said the report’s lead author Jennifer Milne. “One of the most promising net-negative technologies is BECCS.”

By 2050, BECCS technologies could sequester 10 billion metric tonnes of industrial CO₂

A typical BECCS system converts woody biomass, grass and other vegetation into electricity, chemical products or fuels, such as ethanol. CO₂ emissions released during the process are captured and stored.

The technology could be used in power plants, paper mills, ethanol processors and other manufacturing facilities.

The report identifies 16 BECCS projects at various stages of development around the world. These include a corn ethanol production facility in Illinois which sequesters around 1,000 metric tonnes of CO₂ a day in a sandstone formation 7,000 feet underground.

Estimates show that by 2050, BECCS technologies could sequester 10 billion metric tonnes of industrial CO₂ emissions annually worldwide. But according to the GCEP report, major technical and economic hurdles must be overcome, such as the relative inefficiency of biomass fuels and the high cost of CCS.

Source: The Engineer