Exploring Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) Scenarios for California

The report explores the potential of Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) to help California meet its 2045 CDR target of 75 MMT CO2e. By modeling seven scenarios based on cost and social acceptance, the analysis finds that BiCRS could potentially meet the entire target under high biomass availability estimates without competing with food production. The report highlights that while lower-cost pathways rely on established technologies like combustion with CCS, higher social acceptance pathways require advanced technologies such as pyrolysis and gasification. BiCRS is projected to generate significantly more bioenergy and jobs than the current direct air capture (DAC)-focused Scoping Plan.

• BiCRS systems could potentially meet California's 2045 CDR target of 75 MMT CO2e on their own, provided there are high estimates of biomass availability.
• The deployment of BiCRS in California can be achieved using existing and projected waste biomass without causing land use change or competing with food production.
• BiCRS scenarios generally offer higher bioenergy and job production than the 2022 Scoping Plan's DAC-focused approach, with high social acceptance scenarios producing approximately 10 times more.
• There is a trade-off between technology readiness and social acceptance: lower-cost, lower-acceptance pathways use established technologies like combustion and anaerobic digestion, while higher-acceptance pathways rely on advanced, less-scaled technologies like pyrolysis and fermentation.
• All modeled BiCRS scenarios fall within the cost range of the 2022 Scoping Plan, and some (Scenarios 4.1 and 4.2) are actually cheaper.
• Across the various assumptions and scenarios, BiCRS is estimated to provide carbon removal ranging from 13 to 75 MMT CO2e.

APA

Clean Air Task Force (2025). Exploring Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) Scenarios for California. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/21132019/CATF_CWFCABiCRSCDR_ReportSummary_Proof_10.20.25.pdf

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. Exploring Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) Scenarios for California. 2025. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/21132019/CATF_CWFCABiCRSCDR_ReportSummary_Proof_10.20.25.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=Exploring Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) Scenarios for California |date=October 2025 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/21132019/CATF_CWFCABiCRSCDR_ReportSummary_Proof_10.20.25.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cleanairtaskforce2025exploring, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{Exploring Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) Scenarios for California}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2025}, month = oct, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/21132019/CATF_CWFCABiCRSCDR_ReportSummary_Proof_10.20.25.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }