Biomass with CO2 Capture and Storage (Bio-CSS)

• Recent research indicates that more powerful technologies are now needed to keep global warming below 2°C1 – and avoid irreversible climate change. This is echoed by warnings from both the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA).
• There is therefore an urgent need for carbon-negative solutions such as Bio-CCS – the only largescale technology that can remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Bio-CCS combines sustainable biomass conversion with CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS) – e.g. in biofuels and bioenergy production – and is already being deployed at industrial scale in the U.S.2 .
• Use of biofuels and bioenergy is steadily increasing in the European Union (EU) due to targets for renewable energy sources and certain biofuels production routes could provide “low-hanging fruits” for early, low-cost CCS deployment.
• A recent study indicated that, globally, Bio-CCS could remove 10 billion tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere every year by 20503 using available sustainable biomass – equivalent to a third of all current global energy-related emissions. In Europe, Bio-CCS could remove 800 million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere every year by 20503 using available sustainable biomass – equivalent to over 50% of current emissions from the EU power sector. This is in addition to any emissions reductions achieved by replacing fossil fuels with that biomass.
• Bio-CCS could ultimately result in industry sectors whose overall emissions are below zero, which could then offset emissions in other sectors where reductions are more difficult to attain.

The following actions are therefore urgently required at EU level:

• As for other low-carbon technologies, establish economic incentives to enable the large-scale deployment of Bio-CCS – in particular, reward negative emissions via the capture and storage of biogenic CO2 under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, in the same way as for fossil CCS.
• Identify and incentivise the clustering of small-scale biogenic emission sources with other emission sources in order to achieve economies of scale for CO2 transport and storage.
• Undertake R&D to determine the costs of the various Bio-CCS routes, including additional costs induced by corrosion and other technology challenges when co-firing with high biomass percentages in existing boilers.
• Establish dedicated funding for R&D and pilot projects to further develop and prove advanced technologies.
• Address issues specific to Bio-CCS deployment (e.g. accelerate deployment of advanced biomass conversion processes) and establish an EU roadmap towards 2050.
• In addition, establish additional non-ETS measures to enable EU CCS demonstration projects to take Final Investment Decision (FID) and provide security for long-term investment.