Ember’s response to National Grid’s FES2022 call for evidence

Ember argues that the assumption that biomass burning is carbon neutral is problematic and that the resulting reliance on BECCS for negative emissions in National Grid's FES scenarios is subject to high uncertainty. The organization advocates for BECCS to be treated as a 'technology of last resort' and requests that FES2022 include at least one net-zero scenario with very low or no BECCS deployment to better quantify trade-offs with nature-based solutions and behavior changes.

• The assumption that biomass burning is carbon neutral and that BECCS generates negative emissions is considered highly problematic because scientific evidence suggests biomass burning is often detrimental to the climate and environment, and truly carbon-neutral sources are scarce and difficult to identify.
• Because BECCS is essential for reaching net-zero in all FES pathways, the high uncertainty regarding the scale and speed of its negative emissions weakens the credibility of those pathways.
• Ember recommends that National Grid treat BECCS as a 'technology of last resort,' where its use is determined by residual emissions remaining after all other removal options are exhausted, rather than by the perceived size of biomass supply.
• There is no justification for unabated bioenergy in future power systems as it is expensive, potentially contributes to emissions, and clean alternatives exist for baseload and peaking power.
• Ember requests that FES2022 include at least one net-zero scenario with very low or no BECCS deployment to allow for a quantified comparison between BECCS, nature-based solutions, and consumer behavior changes.

APA

Ember (2021). Ember’s response to National Grid’s FES2022 call for evidence. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/12/FES2021-Call-for-evidence.pdf

Chicago

Ember. Ember’s response to National Grid’s FES2022 call for evidence. 2021. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/12/FES2021-Call-for-evidence.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Ember |title=Ember’s response to National Grid’s FES2022 call for evidence |date=28 September 2021 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/12/FES2021-Call-for-evidence.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{ember2021embers, author = {{Ember}}, title = {{Ember’s response to National Grid’s FES2022 call for evidence}}, publisher = {Ember}, year = {2021}, month = sep, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/12/FES2021-Call-for-evidence.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }