Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage as a Tool for Climate Change Mitigation

The document examines BECCS as a tool for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and energy production, detailing the interactions between biomass feedstocks, conversion technologies, and system outputs. It highlights the potential for BECCS to mitigate emissions from forest thinnings and agrifood wastes, while warning against land-use changes that compromise carbon sinks. The authors emphasize that BECCS cannot be categorically labeled as beneficial or detrimental, as lifecycle impacts vary based on the supply chain and technology used.

• Utilizing forest thinnings and agrifood residues in BECCS could provide significant climate benefits; in the U.S. alone, these feedstocks could potentially support 700 Mt of CO2 capture annually, primarily through systems optimized for carbon removal.
• The use of biomass feedstocks for BECCS can be designed to improve land health and carbon storage if focused on socially marginal, degraded, or seasonally fallow land using species like switchgrass, hybrid poplar, willow, or winter rye.
• Indiscriminate biomass harvesting for BECCS poses risks to terrestrial carbon reservoirs, as deforestation or the conversion of natural forests and grasslands to support biomass production could offset the climate benefits of the technology.
• Beyond energy, BECCS can produce non-CO2 coproducts like biochar and liquid digestate fertilizer, which can return value to the land and potentially displace GHG-intensive synthetic fertilizers.
• Global deployment of BECCS is currently very limited, with estimated CO2 capture of approximately 2 Mt per year.

APA

Herbstritt, S., Sanders-DeMott, R., & Fallon, K. (n.d.). Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage as a Tool for Climate Change Mitigation. Clean Air Task Force. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/14094021/beccs-brief.pdf

Chicago

Herbstritt, Steph, Rebecca Sanders-DeMott, and Kathy Fallon. Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage as a Tool for Climate Change Mitigation. Clean Air Task Force, n.d. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/14094021/beccs-brief.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Herbstritt |first1=Steph |last2=Sanders-DeMott |first2=Rebecca |last3=Fallon |first3=Kathy |title=Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage as a Tool for Climate Change Mitigation |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/14094021/beccs-brief.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{herbstrittndbioenergy, author = {Herbstritt, Steph and Sanders-DeMott, Rebecca and Fallon, Kathy}, title = {{Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage as a Tool for Climate Change Mitigation}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/14094021/beccs-brief.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }