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BIOENERGY EXPLAINED 7

CO2

BECCS

ENERGY

BIOENERGY CARBON CAPTURE

AND STORAGE

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With current CO2 emissions reaching a critical point, decarbonisation is necessary to limit the raise in global temperature and mitigate harmful climate-related effects on the planet. Considering the urgency of the task at hand, a drastic reduction of carbon emissions must be complemented with options for greenhouse gas removals. Different solutions can deliver negative emissions: some of them are referred to as natural, others are technology based. In the first category afforestation and reforestation absorb CO2 through plant growth, modified agricultural practice can increase carbon storage in soil, thus removing it from the atmosphere (through incorporation of biochar in soils for example). Among the most promising NETs, Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) is the most mature and allows for the production of clean energy coupled with the permanent capture of CO2. To reach Paris Agreement’s objectives a wise mix of complementary solutions must have to be used.

Bioenergy Carbon Capture and storage combines biomass energy applications with the capture and storage of CO2 thus providing net removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. The best results in terms of mitigating climate change can be achieved if BECCS -solutions are used as an additional tool to conventional mitigation - to be combined with a prompt scaling-up of bioenergy. As bioenergy is integrated in numerous industrial sectors, bioenergy carbon capture and storage is a versatile technology that can be applied to power generation (BECCS) and to different industrial installations (in cement, ethanol, pulp and paper among others) using biomass as feedstock. Sustainability of the biomass feedstock used is paramount for BECCS to deliver negative carbon emissions and the EU legislation provides the right tools to ensure this. Although already proven, technical complexities inherent to the technology would require more R&I efforts, and thus further public support and a dedicated legislative framework facilitating its uptake and its economic profitability.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

INTRODUCTIONIn combination with carbon capture and storage technologies bioenergy has the potential to deliver negative emissions. Its deployment would be perfectly in line with the achievement of the commitments taken in Paris and enable the transition to a carbon neutral economy, keeping temperature from rising by more than 1.5°C. Bioenergy Europe does not suggest reliance on Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage technologies as an alternative to conventional mitigation but, rather as an additional tool, which can be combined with a decisive scale up of bioenergy.

IPCC1, IEA2 and the European Commission3 acknowledge that moving away from fossil fuels as soon as possible and removing some of the historical CO2 from the atmosphere with natural solutions like afforestation and technological as BECCS is vital to achieve the goal of the Paris Agreement. Indeed, negative

emissions technologies will have to be deployed to offset unavoidable emissions and reach net zero GHG emissions. This has also been recently recognised by the Declaration on Nordic Carbon Neutrality, by which Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark committed to intensify cooperation on a number of areas including “bioenergy with CCS (BECCS) technologies, conducting research to resolve the remaining technical challenges and developing business models for the implementation of CCS(Carbon Capture and Storage), CCU (Carbon Capture and Utilisation)”.4

A mix of timely measures and development of technologies must be galvanized, such as a fossil fuel phase out, an increased use of sustainable energy sources and a comprehensive energy efficiency approach measures. Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is the most mature among the key mitigation technologies to achieve negative CO2 emissions and can be scaled up at reasonable costs.5

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Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) and Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Utilization (BECCU) are often mentioned together. Although they are different technologies with different final objectives, they both reduce emissions and can be used in combination to improve the economics of the projects.

BECCS is the most mature of the very few demonstrated negative emission technologies.6 It combines biomass energy applications with the capture and storage of CO2 and has the potential to provide a net removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. Energy production (electricity, heat and cooling) from sustainable biomass is carbon neutral, because the carbon released in the atmosphere during energy conversion was first taken from the atmosphere during the phase of photosynthesis.

In the case of BECCS, the CO2 is captured before being released in the atmosphere, then transported and permanently stored in a suitable geological formation. This establishes a negative flow of CO2 from the atmosphere to the subsurface.7 Indeed, through BECCS carbon is extracted from the carbon cycle, while at the same time avoiding the use of fossil energy and the associated CO2 emissions.

WHAT IS BECCS – WHAT IS BECCU AND WHY ARE THEY OFTEN MENTIONED TOGETHER?

CO2 STORAGE

CO2 COLLECTION & COMPRESSION

CO2 SEPARATION & COMPRESSION

BIOFUELS & BIOFUEL

PRODUCTION

ELECTRICITY& HEAT/COOLING

PRODUCTION

BIOMASSASBSORBING

CO2

Source: IEA (2017), Bioenergy Technology p.43

CO2UTILISATION

Heat and power pro-duction

Product / energy

ATMOSPHERIC CARBON

ELECTRICITY

FOSSIL CARBON

Biochar

+ carbon content in soil

Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Utilisation closes the loop: it contributes to leaving fossil carbon in

the ground, and closing the carbon loop above the ground.10

Source: IEA Bioenergy – Bio-CCS and Bio- CCU Climate change mitigation and extended use of

biomass raw material

BECCU uses CO2 as feedstock and converts it into value-added products such as synthetic fuels, chemicals, or food & beverage or building materials.8 Through BECCU the captured carbon from a biomass energy conversion can be recycled via chemical or biological processes to form biochar, synthetic fuels, bulk and specialty chemicals as well as polymers, and construction materials through mineralisation.9

While BECCU is not a negative emission technology,

it delivers other societal and environmental services, as it helps:

• Achieving a more efficient use of bioenergy while allowing for contributing leaving fossil carbon to remain in the ground;

• Supporting the circular economy by converting waste CO2 to added-value products;

• Developing industrial innovation and competitiveness by creating new market opportunities.

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CARBON DIOXIDE, CO2

MINERALISATION CHEMICALCONVERSION

BIOLOGICALCONVERSION DIRECT

UTILISATION

POLYMERS FUELS &CHEMICALS

COMMODITIES

METHANE METHANOL FORMIC ACID SYNTHESIS GAS

Food and beveragesIndustrial gasRefrigerants

Working fluidsSolvents

pH controlEnhanced oil recovery (EOR)Enhanced coal bed methane

recovery (ECBM)

Construction materials (concrete, aggregates)

Carbonates (precipitated calcium carbonate PCC)

GreenhousesAlgae cultivations

Biological methanation

PolycarbonatesPolyols

“Renewable urea”

CH4 CH3OH HCOOH CO+H2

MTBE*DME**

OLEFINS FORMALDEHYDE GASOLINE METHANOL,ETHANOL ...

DIESEL, GASOLINE,OLEFINS ...

FISCHER-TROPSCH SYNTHESIS

* METHYL-TERT-BUTYLETHER** DIMETHYLETHER

+H2 +H2 +N2+

Main CO2 utilisation routes and applications

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One of the key differences between BECCS and BECCU is that the latter enables the economic use of CO2, with temporary storage but with possible re-emissions of CO2 at the end, while CCS technology aims for a permanent underground storage of CO2, thus excluding its use.

In certain systems, these technologies can be combined by first making use of valorising the CO2 in a first step via BECCU, and then by storing the CO2 emitted in a last step via CCS. Since BECCU is a commercial technology, it can help the uptake of BECCS if used in combination with it, helping to tick the boxes of reducing CO2 emissions and contributing to the achievement of circular economy.

Bioenergy Carbon Capture and storage involves four main steps: capturing CO2, compressing it, transporting and finally storing it.

1. CAPTURING CO2

The first phase consists in capturing the CO2. This process separates the CO2 from other components such as steam, nitrogen, sulphur and particles to achieve the purest composition for transport and storage. There are at least five possibilities of achieving this in energy production from biomass:

a. High concentration streams from industrial processes: purification of high concentration CO2 streams (e.g. from ethanol).

b. Post-combustion: CO2 is removed from the exhaust gas through absorption by selective solvents.

c. Pre-combustion: The fuel is pre-treated and converted into a mix of CO2 and hydrogen, from which the CO2 is separated. The hydrogen is then used as fuel, or burnt to produce energy.

d. Oxy-fuel combustion: The fuel is burned with pure oxygen instead of air, producing a flue stream of CO2 and water vapour without nitrogen.

e. Chemical-Looping-Combustion (CLC): The oxygen needed for combustion is provided by a solid oxygen carrier, thus avoiding contact between fuel and air. The solid oxygen carrier circulates between a fuel reactor, where the oxygen carrier is reduced, and the biomass oxidized to CO2 and H2O, then transported to the air reactor and oxidized to its original form before a new cycle is started. CO2 capture is inherent to the process.12

2. CO2 COMPRESSION

This phase is aimed at reducing the volume of CO2. The CO2 rich stream is dehydrated, compressed (or liquified) and transported to a storage site.

3. CO2 TRANSPORT

There are different CO2 transport options such as pipelines, shipping or even road transport. In most cases a mix of options is used as most storage sites are/will be located below the ocean.

4. CO2 Storage

There are different CO2 storage options such as:

• Saline aquifers (saltwater-bearing rocks unsuitable for human consumption)

• Depleted oil and gas fields • Deep unmineable coal beds • Mineralisation13

Several industrial sector already benefit from bioenergy in their processes. Thanks to its dispatchability and versatility, bioenergy successfully meets the temperature, pressure and quantity of thermal energy requirements of different manufacturing processes. 7% of the global industry energy demand (204 Mtoe) was satisfied by bioenergy in 2017.14 Switching from fossil fuels to biomass can help decarbonise industrial processes. BECCS can be therefore applied to various sectors and different installations, such as:

• Biopower• Biomass-based Combined Heat and Power• Pulp and paper mills • Lime kilns • Iron and Steel industry (where pulverized coal

injection is replaced by torrefied pellets)• Ethanol plants • Fischer Tropsch diesel plants• Biogas refineries• Biomass gasification plants.

HOW DOES BECCS WORK

WHAT ARE THE SECTORS OF POSSIBLE

APPLICATIONS?

The implementation of BECCS also depends on technological advancements and progresses within the deployment of conventional CCS. While capturing CO2 from biomass conversion technologies may be achieved with technologies that are very similar to the ones used to capture CO2 from fossil fuels, certain technical differences need to be considered and further evaluated, such as:

• Size and location of emission sources: biomass-based installations are often decentralized and

of smaller in scale when compared to fossil-based installations. This might be a barrier for the achievement of economics of scale, especially in the absence of clusters;

• Although no particular technical restrictions to the capture of biogenic CO2 exist in energy generation applications or industrial processes,15 the presence of impurities resulting from in the combustion process, ashes and flue gases represents a further complexity in the process.16

CO2 TRANSPORT & STORAGE

MANURE, BIODEGRADABLE WASTE

SUGAR,STARCH CROPS

SOLID,DRY BIOMASS

FERMENTATION

FERMENTATION

PRE-TREATMENT& HYDROLYSIS

CO2 SEPARATION

CO2 SEPARATION

WATER-GAS SHIFT& CO2 SEPARATION

BIOMETHANE

H2O SEPARATION ETHANOL

LIGNIN

GASIFICATION

FISCHER-TROPSCHSYNTHESIS

DIESELGASOLINEKEROSENE

METHANATION SNG

HYDROGEN

METHANOLSYNTHESIS

DMEGASOLINE

OXYGENand/or STEAM

PRE-COMBUSTIONCO2 CAPTUREGASIFICATION

OXYGENand/or STEAM

COMBUSTION

ELECTRICITYGENERATION

ELECTRICITY&/OR HEATCOMBUSTION

AIR

POST-COMBUSTIONCO2 CAPTURE

OXYFUELCOMBUSTION

OXYGEN

INDUSTRIALPROCESSES &CO2 CAPTURE

AMMONIACEMENTIRON & STEELREFINERIES

BIO-CHEMICAL CONVERSION

THERMO-CHEMICAL CONVERSION

CO2 CAPTURE

FUEL OR ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION

ABCD FINAL OUTPUT

FEEDSTOCK

LEGEND

Source: ZEP/EBTP 2012 7

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The biomass feedstock used must be sustainable for BECCS to deliver negative carbon emissions. In the EU, thanks to the tight environmental legislative framework and the sustainability criteria introduced by the revised Renewable Energy Directive (2018 REDII) as well as and the requirements of the Regulation on Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF), we can be sure that the biomass used and traded is sustainably sourced. These criteria apply to for biomass used within the EU, irrespective of the geographical origin of the biomass. An international alignment of regulations on this subject would help improving the global sustainability performance of biomass.17

According to the above-mentioned legislation, for biomass to be sustainable:

• No land use change can occur because of agricultural and forest biomass production. Agricultural biomass cannot be grown in primary and highly-biodiverse forests, grassland and land with high carbon stocks such as wetlands and peatlands. For all types of biomass, net-carbon emissions from land use change must be accounted for under the greenhouse gas emission saving criteria.

• Greenhouse gas emission savings must be achieved.18 The GHG emission saving calculation accounts for the lifecycle emissions of bioenergy production such as the transport and processing emissions and thus guarantees that the positive effects of bioenergy in comparison to fossil fuels are maintained in the future.

• Carbon stocks must be maintained. The forest’s long-term production capacity must be maintained or improved and LULUCF sector emissions cannot exceed removals.

• Harvesting must be performed legally, biodiversity and soil quality preserved to protect areas designated for nature protection purposes and to guarantee that forest regeneration takes place.

Bioenergy represents 63% of the renewable energy mix today and is one of the main drivers of a European carbon neutral economy. A variety of biomass feedstocks is potentially available to serve as vectors of decarbonisation of fuel supply to release energy, such as:

• Forestry residues: bark, small branches, thinnings, residues from sawmills;

• Organic waste: waste wood, the organic fraction of municipal solid waste, livestock manures, sewage sludge, etc.;

• Energy crops: crops specifically grown for energy production (e.g. short rotation coppices, miscanthus and switchgrass);

• Agricultural residues: straw, prunings, nutshells, fruit kernels, etc.

Scientific studies identify a substantial growth potential for biomass leading to 2050 - if the right measures are put in place. A recent literature review concludes that sustainable biomass in the EU can reach potential of 406 Mtoe (17 EJ) by 2050. This would provide enough feedstock to triple the amount of bioenergy in the EU-28 energy mix.19

IS BECCS SUSTAINABLE? IS THERE ENOUGH

SUSTAINABLE BIOMASS TO DEPLOY BECCS AT THE

SCALE NEEDED?

100

5

17426

124

444

17 40

119

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

2017 2050min

2050max

737

143

406

169

Forest biomass

Agricultural biomass

Waste

Middle range potential

Source: Faaij Study (2018)

It could be in the future, if the right legislative, investment and innovation support frameworks are in place. The most significant challenges, along with the high capital costs, concern technical aspects as well as the energy efficiency aspect of the projects.

The first question is whether there is a credible carbon / CO2 price creating a price-based system rewarding negative emissions. Studies suggest that a range of 55-248 euro per ton of CO2

20, 21 would make BECCS economically profitable. A stable and robust carbon price could send the right signal to carbon capture projects investor; and would also drive a decisive fuel switch, much needed to achieve the Paris agreement’s objectives. In the last 20 years, CCS projects have not progressed at the expected rate, so rethinking the policy design supporting these technologies is necessary for their successful deployment.

Furthermore, one of the challenges lies in the size of biomass-combusting plants which, because located in the proximity of biomass sources, do not reach the critical size. For this reason, the CO2’s recovery costs are proportionally higher than in bigger power plants.22 In general, the right business model would need to be put in place.

Finally, when assessing the profitability of carbon capture, the overall efficiency of energy production needs to be considered. The CO2 recovery is an energy

intensive process and, as such, impacts the balance of primary energy consumption and consequently the profitability of power production. Still, the efficiency losses can be partially recuperated with combined heat and power production. Indeed, using the heat generated by capture can cover part of the efficiency losses.23 As already mentioned, combining BECCU and BECCS can also significantly improve the profitability and efficiency of the projects.24

There are to date several small-scale demonstration BECCS small scale demonstration projects in operation around the world.25 In 2015, eight projects were in the evaluation stage of development.26 The ADM-owned Illinois Industrial CCS Project is the first large-scale project combining bioenergy production with CO2 capture and storage. Operations started during the first half of 2017 and the project will capture 1 MtCO2/year from the distillation of corn into bioethanol. The CO2 is then compressed, dehydrated and injected on site for permanent storage in the Mount Simon sandstone formation (at a depth of approximately 2.1km).27 In Europe, DRAX and C-Capture are piloting the first BECCS facility in North Yorkshire, UK. The £400,000 pilot plan aims at removing a tonne of carbon from its operations a day.28

IS BECCS ECONOMICALLY VIABLE?

ARE THERE BECCS PROJECTS

IN OPERATION?

GLOSSARY Bio-CCS vs BECCS Both acronyms refer to Bioenergy Carbon Capture and storage. In scientific literature they are often used interchangeably.29 In certain cases, the first one (BECCS) is used to refer to combination of Carbon Capture technologies with power generation, while Bio-CCS to industrial applications.30 For the purposes of this paper only the acronym BECCS will be used for both industrial and power and combined heat and power applications.

BIOCHAR Biochar is produced through pyrolysis — processes that heat biomass in the absence (or under reduction) of oxygen. In addition to creating a soil enhancer, sustainable biochar practices can produce oil and gas by-products that can be used as fuel, providing clean, renewable energy. When the biochar is buried in the ground as a soil enhancer, the system can become “carbon negative.” In Tampere (Finland) the production of biochar has been successfully combined with a district heating network which uses the waste heat of the plant. Since biochar is used as a soil amendment it permanently sequesters carbon in the soil. The district heating is therefore carbon-negative.31

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1. IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C, (2018) Summary for policy makers , p.162. IEA, Energy Technology Perspectives 2017, B2D scenario; Summary accessed on 19/12/20183. European Commission, 1.5TECH scenario, In-Depth Analysis of the Commission Communication COM (2018) 7734. Declaration on Nordic Carbon Neutrality, Helsinki, 25 January 20195. Fuss et al. (2018), Negative emissions—Part 2: Costs, potentials and side effects. Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 1, e5, 13 June

2018, p.9.6. NETs include Ocean Fertilization, Direct Air capture and carbon storage, Enhanced weathering, use of biochar in top soils and afforestation7. Pour et al., (2016) A sustainability framework for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) technologies, p.60458. SAPEA (2018) Novel carbon capture and utilization technologies. P.109. VTT, BioCO2 project, Value chains and business potential for biobased-CO2 in circular economy, https://www.vtt.fi/sites/BioCO2/en/

background accessed on 11/01/201910. SAPEA (2018) Novel carbon capture and utilization technologies. p.811. VTT, BioCO2 project, Value chains and business potential for biobased-CO2 in circular economy https://www.vtt.fi/sites/BioCO2/en,

accessed on 11/01/201912. Mediara et al. ,(2017) Chemical Looping Combustion of Biomass: An Approach to BECCS 13th International Conference on Greenhouse

Gas Control Technologies, GHGT-13, 14-18, November 2016, Lausanne, Switzerland https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876610217319392 accessed on 18/12/2018

13. Conversion of CO2 to solid inorganic carbonates using chemical reactions.14. IEA (2018), MRSren18, p.14215. Arasto (2014) Bio-CCS: feasibility comparison of large scale carbon-negative solutions

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876610214025260 accessed on 5/10/201816. Idem17. Van Dam et al. (2010) From the global efforts on certification of bioenergy towards an integrated approach based on sustainable land

use planning, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2010, vol. 14, issue 918. 70% less GHG emissions than fossil fuels for installation entering operation in 2021, 80% for installations starting operation in 2026.19. Faaij (2018) Securing sustainable resource availability of biomass for energy applications in Europe; Review of recent literature20. Gough et al. (2018) Challenges to the use of BECCS as a keystone technology in pursuit of 1.5°21. Other sources as the Climate Change Committee in the UK indicate that the use of BECCS for power generation could be cost-effective

at a carbon price of between £80-140/tCO₂ (in 2030 this would be in the UK Government’s Green Book carbon value trajectory).22. CCSP, Finland, Final Report , p.16 accessed on 18/12/201823. Bui et al., (2017) Thermodynamic Evaluation of Carbon Negative Power Generation: Bio-energy CCS (BECCS), Energy Procedia Volume

114, July 2017, Pages 6010-602024. CCSP, Finland, Final Report , p.16 accessed on 18/12/201825. EASAC policy report, (February 2018) Negative emission technologies: What role in meeting Paris Agreement targets? p. 2026. Kempner (2015), Biomass and carbon dioxide capture and storage: A review, International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 40 ·

August 201527. IEA (2017) Technology Roadmap – Delivering Sustainable Bioenergy, p. 4428. https://www.drax.com/press_release/drax-to-pilot-europes-first-carbon-capture-storage-project-beccs/ Accessed on 04/01/201929. See for example https://tyndall.ac.uk/publications/biomass-energy-carbon-capture-and-storage-beccs-or-bio-ccs or https://bellona.

org/about-ccs/carbon-negative 30. See for example file://sbs/Folder%20Redirection/giulia.cancian/Desktop/1-s2.0-S1876610214025260-main.pdf 31. https://www.tampere.fi/en/city-of-tampere/info/current-issues/2018/10/23102018_1.html

SOURCES

NOTES

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Bioenergy Europe, formerly known as the European Biomass Association (AEBIOM), is the voice of the bioenergy sector at EU-level. It aims at developing a sustainable bioenergy market based on fair business conditions.

Bioenergy Europe is a non-profit, Brussels-based international organisation founded in 1990, bringing together more than 40 associations and 90 companies.

www.bioenergyeurope.org

Place du Champ de Mars 21050 BrusselsT : +32 2 318 40 34info@bioenergyeurope.org