Which bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) pathways can provide net-negative emissions?

Abstract

Countries are considering different options to achieve net zero emissions including Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), which is the process of capturing and storing CO₂ from processes that use bioenergy to produce heat, electricity, or biofuels. However, this technology faces sustainability concerns and possesses complex value chains of its emissions. Adding further to this complexity, the literature indicates two opposing views with respect to the potential of BECCS in terms of being able (or unable) to achieve negative emissions. Hence, this paper analyzes in detail a wide range of BECCS pathways in terms of their ability to achieve negative emissions along with their associated costs. Out of seven assessed pathways, our analysis shows that corn to ethanol and biomethane production from maize BECCS pathway in the USA, biomethane production from wet manure in Europe, and baling of straw pellets with trans-Atlantic shipment can achieve negative emissions at a cost of 50, 108, 159, and 232 dollars per ton of CO₂ ($/tCO₂) respectively. Other technologies like poplar pellets, forest residue, and agricultural residue with trans-Atlantic shipment are not able to achieve negative emissions.