IPCC Working Group III report: Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS)

The document outlines the role of BECCS as a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) method, noting its technical potential to remove 0.5-11.3 GtCO2 annually by 2050. However, it warns that large-scale deployment could threaten food security, biodiversity, and Indigenous rights, potentially requiring land areas twice the size of Egypt by 2100 in 1.5°C pathways. The briefing emphasizes that delaying near-term emissions reductions increases reliance on BECCS, thereby escalating land-use pressures.

• BECCS is a widely used carbon dioxide removal (CDR) method in climate models for limiting warming to 2°C or lower, but its large-scale deployment poses significant risks. In pathways limiting warming to 1.5°C, the required cropland for bioenergy by 2100 is estimated at 199 million hectares (range 56-482 million), which is more than twice the size of Egypt (102 million hectares). Such deployment could "have adverse socio-economic and environmental impacts, including on biodiversity, food and water security, local livelihoods and on the rights of Indigenous Peoples".
• The technical potential for BECCS to remove CO2 globally by 2050 is estimated between 0.5 and 11.3 GtCO2 per year, though this figure excludes economic and sustainability constraints. When limited to cost-effectiveness of less than USD100 per tonne of CO2-eq, the potential drops to 0.2-9.9 GtCO2 per year. Achieving these levels would require nearly a 150-fold increase in current CCS capacity, which currently captures only 40 million tonnes of CO2 annually.
• The effectiveness of BECCS depends on feedstock choice and management. Using feedstocks that do not require land, such as harvest residues or municipal organic waste, can reduce negative land-use impacts. Conversely, the lifecycle emissions of BECCS remain uncertain and depend on the optimization of conversion processes and the roll-out of CCS technologies.
• Delaying immediate mitigation efforts increases the necessity for large-scale CDR deployment in the latter half of the century to address temperature overshoot. This delay would lead to substantial land-use changes by 2050, whereas earlier mitigation would reduce the overall pressure on land and its associated impacts.

APA

Team, Z. (2022). IPCC Working Group III report: Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS). Zero Carbon Analytics. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/nature/ipcc-working-group-iii-report-bioenergy-with-carbon-capture-and-storage-beccs/

Chicago

Team, ZCA. IPCC Working Group III report: Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS). Zero Carbon Analytics, 2022. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/nature/ipcc-working-group-iii-report-bioenergy-with-carbon-capture-and-storage-beccs/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Team |first1=ZCA |title=IPCC Working Group III report: Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) |publisher=Zero Carbon Analytics |date=7 April 2022 |url=https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/nature/ipcc-working-group-iii-report-bioenergy-with-carbon-capture-and-storage-beccs/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{team2022ipcc, author = {Team, ZCA}, title = {{IPCC Working Group III report: Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS)}}, institution = {Zero Carbon Analytics}, year = {2022}, month = apr, url = {https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/nature/ipcc-working-group-iii-report-bioenergy-with-carbon-capture-and-storage-beccs/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }