bioenergy
bioenergy
Net Zero and Beyond: What Role for Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage?
Net Zero and Beyond: What Role for Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage? 23 January 2020 — 8:30AM TO 10:00AM Anonymous (not verified) 6 January 2020 Chatham House | 10 St James's Square | London | SW1Y 4LE
In the context of the feasibility of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero, policymakers are beginning to pay more attention to options for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. A wide range of potential carbon dioxide removal (CDR) options are currently being discussed and modelled though the most prominent among them are bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and afforestation and reforestation.
There are many reasons to question the reliance on BECCS assumed in the models including the carbon balances achievable, its substantial needs for land, water and other inputs and technically and economically viable carbon capture and storage technologies.
This meeting will examine the potentials and challenges of BECCS in the context of other CDR and emissions abatement options. It will discuss the requisite policy and regulatory frameworks to minimize sustainability and socio-political risks of CDR approaches while also avoiding overshooting climate goals.
Attendance at this event is by invitation only.
bioenergy
Sacred cow: coal-hungry India eyes bioenergy to cut carbon
Barsana, India (AFP) Nov 8, 2024
Venerated as incarnations of Hindu deities, India's sacred cows are also being touted as agents of energy transition by a government determined to promote biogas production to cut its dependence on coal.
It is an understatement to say that Nakul Kumar Sardana is proud of his new plant at Barsana, in India's northern Uttar Pradesh state.
Firstly, says the vice-president of a biomass joint
bioenergy
Bioenergy crops likely to be more invasive
Whilst there is interest in bioenergy as a renewable alternative to fossil fuels, there is also concern about its environmental impact. A recent study demonstrates that potential bioenergy crops in Hawaii are 2 to 4 times more likely to be invasive than other plants.
bioenergy
How much water is needed to grow bioenergy crops?
A Dutch study has assessed the water requirements of 13 bioenergy crops across the world. The findings could help select the best crops and locations to produce bioenergy.
bioenergy
Limiting bioenergy crops to marginal land would not work, says study
Large-scale cultivation of bioenergy crops on marginal land is unfeasible, according to a recent study. While limiting bioenergy crops to less productive land could cut the sector’s impact on food prices, the financial incentive to grow crops on more productive land may be too strong for landowners to ignore, the researchers suggest.
bioenergy
Benefits of logging residues as bioenergy depend on fuel they replace
Benefits gained from the use of logging residues as a fuel depend more on the type of fossil fuel they replace than on the distance the residues have to travel, according to new research. Residues that replace coal produce the greatest reductions in CO2 emissions.
bioenergy
Balancing bioenergy potential and carbon sink resources of forest
New research highlights that potential to use forest materials as bioenergy to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil fuel use must be balanced against the role played by forest stocks as carbon storage facilities.
bioenergy
Scientists assess environmental impacts of bioenergy for transport
Converting algae into bioenergy is one option being considered to meet future demand for transport energy. However, a recent study suggests that some combinations of cultivation processes and conversion technologies for algae-derived energy consume more energy than is produced, although water use and greenhouse gas emissions are lower for the most promising options compared with bioenergy sourced from switchgrass and canola.
bioenergy
15 Facts About Bioenergy
It's a crucial tool in the fight against climate change, but that's not the only reason to get on board with biomass.
bioenergy
How bioenergy creates opportunity
Learn more about how private working forests and modern bioenergy are making a positive impact today, and for the future, in this infographic.
bioenergy
Meet Dr. Jennifer Jenkins: Nobel Prize-winning scientist and bioenergy champion
Jenkins is vice president and chief sustainability officer of Enviva, a leading global energy company specializing in sustainable wood bioenergy.
bioenergy
Biomass and Bioenergy in The Netherlands
The study ‘Sustainable biomass and bioenergy in the Netherlands’ was carried out by researchers Goh, Mai-Moulin and Junginger from Utrecht University in the framework of the Netherlands Programmes Sustainable Biomass. It looks at “biomass from the three major categories, i.e. woody biomass, oils and fats and carbohydrates used in different sectors in the Netherlands”.
For each of these three categories a Sankey diagram is presented, like for example this one for oils and fats.
[See image gallery at www.sankey-diagrams.com]
The diagram has a very clear structure. Import streams are from the top and exports leave to the bottom. Domestic Dutch production is from the left, use of oils and fats in the Netherlands is to the right. Flows are in million tons (MT) dry mass. Data is for the year 2014.
See the full report here.
bioenergy
Woody biomass for bioenergy and biofuels in the United States—a briefing paper.
Woody biomass can be used for the generation of heat, electricity, and biofuels. In many cases, the technology for converting woody biomass into energy has been established for decades, but because the price of woody biomass energy has not been competitive with traditional fossil fuels, bioenergy production from woody biomass has not been widely adopted. However, current projections of future energy use and renewable energy and climate change legislation under consideration suggest increased use of both forest and agriculture biomass energy in the coming decades.
bioenergy
A synthesis of biomass utilization for bioenergy production in the Western United States
We examine the use of woody residues, primarily from forest harvesting or wood products manufacturing operations (and to a limited degree from urban wood wastes), as a feedstock for direct-combustion bioenergy systems for electrical or thermal power applications. We examine opportunities for utilizing biomass for energy at several different scales, with an emphasis on larger scale electrical power generation at stand-alone facilities, and on smaller scale facilities (thermal heating only) such as governmental, educational, or other institutional facilities. We then identify west-wide barriers that tend to inhibit bioenergy applications, including accessibility, terrain, harvesting costs, and capital costs. Finally, we evaluate the role of government as a catalyst in stimulating new technologies and new uses of biomass material.
bioenergy
Net Zero and Beyond: What Role for Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage?
Invitation Only Research Event
23 January 2020 - 8:30am to 10:00am
Chatham House | 10 St James's Square | London | SW1Y 4LE
Event participants
Richard King, Senior Research Fellow, Energy, Environment and Resources Department, Chatham House
Chair: Duncan Brack, Associate Fellow, Energy, Environment and Resources Department, Chatham House
In the context of the feasibility of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero, policymakers are beginning to pay more attention to options for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. A wide range of potential carbon dioxide removal (CDR) options are currently being discussed and modelled though the most prominent among them are bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and afforestation and reforestation.
There are many reasons to question the reliance on BECCS assumed in the models including the carbon balances achievable, its substantial needs for land, water and other inputs and technically and economically viable carbon capture and storage technologies.
This meeting will examine the potentials and challenges of BECCS in the context of other CDR and emissions abatement options. It will discuss the requisite policy and regulatory frameworks to minimize sustainability and socio-political risks of CDR approaches while also avoiding overshooting climate goals.
Attendance at this event is by invitation only.
Event attributes
Chatham House RuleDepartment/project
Chloé Prendleloup
bioenergy
Net Zero and Beyond: What Role for Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage?
29 January 2020
Policymakers are in danger of sleepwalking into ineffective carbon dioxide removal solutions in the quest to tackle climate change. This paper warns against overreliance on bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).
Reaching Net Zero: Does BECCS Work?
Policymakers can be influenced by ineffective carbon dioxide removal solutions in the quest to tackle climate change. This animation explores the risks of using bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).
Summary
- Current climate efforts are not progressing quickly enough to prevent the world from overshooting the global emissions targets set in the Paris Agreement; accordingly, attention is turning increasingly to options for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – ‘carbon dioxide removal’ (CDR).
- Alongside afforestation and reforestation, the main option under discussion is bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS): processes through which the carbon emissions from burning biomass for energy are captured before release into the atmosphere and stored in underground reservoirs.
- This pre-eminent status is not, however, based on a comprehensive analysis of the feasibility and impacts of BECCS. In reality, BECCS has many drawbacks.
- Models generally assume that biomass for energy is inherently carbon-neutral (and thus that BECCS, by capturing and storing the emissions from combustion, is carbon-negative), but in reality this is not a valid assumption.
- On top of this, the deployment of BECCS at the scales assumed in most models would consume land on a scale comparable to half that currently taken up by global cropland, entailing massive land-use change, potentially endangering food security and biodiversity. There is also significant doubt about the likely energy output of BECCS solutions.
- BECCS may still have some role to play in strategies for CDR, depending mainly on the feedstock used; but it should be evaluated on the same basis as other CDR options, such as nature-based solutions or direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS). Analysis should take full account of carbon balances over time, the requirements of each CDR option in terms of demand for land, water and other inputs, and the consequences of that demand.
- There is an urgent need for policymakers to engage with these debates. The danger at the moment is that policymakers are ‘sleepwalking towards BECCS’ simply because most models incorporate it – or, almost as bad, it may be that they are simply ignoring the need for any meaningful action on CDR as a whole.
Department/project
bioenergy
CBD News: Message from Executive Secretary, Ahmed Djoghlaf, on the occasion of the High-Level Conference on World Food Security and the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy FAO, Rome, 3 June 2008.
bioenergy
CBD World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy, Message from Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity on the occasion of World Food Day, 16 October 2008.
bioenergy
Net Zero and Beyond: What Role for Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage?
Invitation Only Research Event
23 January 2020 - 8:30am to 10:00am
Chatham House | 10 St James's Square | London | SW1Y 4LE
Event participants
Richard King, Senior Research Fellow, Energy, Environment and Resources Department, Chatham House
Chair: Duncan Brack, Associate Fellow, Energy, Environment and Resources Department, Chatham House
In the context of the feasibility of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero, policymakers are beginning to pay more attention to options for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. A wide range of potential carbon dioxide removal (CDR) options are currently being discussed and modelled though the most prominent among them are bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and afforestation and reforestation.
There are many reasons to question the reliance on BECCS assumed in the models including the carbon balances achievable, its substantial needs for land, water and other inputs and technically and economically viable carbon capture and storage technologies.
This meeting will examine the potentials and challenges of BECCS in the context of other CDR and emissions abatement options. It will discuss the requisite policy and regulatory frameworks to minimize sustainability and socio-political risks of CDR approaches while also avoiding overshooting climate goals.
Attendance at this event is by invitation only.
Event attributes
Chatham House RuleDepartment/project
Chloé Prendleloup
bioenergy
Net Zero and Beyond: What Role for Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage?
29 January 2020
Policymakers are in danger of sleepwalking into ineffective carbon dioxide removal solutions in the quest to tackle climate change. This paper warns against overreliance on bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).
Reaching Net Zero: Does BECCS Work?
Policymakers can be influenced by ineffective carbon dioxide removal solutions in the quest to tackle climate change. This animation explores the risks of using bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).
Summary
- Current climate efforts are not progressing quickly enough to prevent the world from overshooting the global emissions targets set in the Paris Agreement; accordingly, attention is turning increasingly to options for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – ‘carbon dioxide removal’ (CDR).
- Alongside afforestation and reforestation, the main option under discussion is bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS): processes through which the carbon emissions from burning biomass for energy are captured before release into the atmosphere and stored in underground reservoirs.
- This pre-eminent status is not, however, based on a comprehensive analysis of the feasibility and impacts of BECCS. In reality, BECCS has many drawbacks.
- Models generally assume that biomass for energy is inherently carbon-neutral (and thus that BECCS, by capturing and storing the emissions from combustion, is carbon-negative), but in reality this is not a valid assumption.
- On top of this, the deployment of BECCS at the scales assumed in most models would consume land on a scale comparable to half that currently taken up by global cropland, entailing massive land-use change, potentially endangering food security and biodiversity. There is also significant doubt about the likely energy output of BECCS solutions.
- BECCS may still have some role to play in strategies for CDR, depending mainly on the feedstock used; but it should be evaluated on the same basis as other CDR options, such as nature-based solutions or direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS). Analysis should take full account of carbon balances over time, the requirements of each CDR option in terms of demand for land, water and other inputs, and the consequences of that demand.
- There is an urgent need for policymakers to engage with these debates. The danger at the moment is that policymakers are ‘sleepwalking towards BECCS’ simply because most models incorporate it – or, almost as bad, it may be that they are simply ignoring the need for any meaningful action on CDR as a whole.
Department/project
bioenergy
Phasing out coal in Denmark via bioenergy-based CHP
Denmark in many ways is the poster child for the generation mix of the future. It led the way for decades in wind generation. It has continued to set ever-more ambitious targets for renewable penetration. And it has shown in the real world how to make a grid work that includes a heavy presence of renewable assets. Along the way, though, it has faced many challenges.
bioenergy
Phasing out coal in Denmark via bioenergy-based CHP
Denmark in many ways is the poster child for the generation mix of the future. It led the way for decades in wind generation. It has continued to set ever-more ambitious targets for renewable penetration. And it has shown in the real world how to make a grid work that includes a heavy presence of renewable assets. Along the way, though, it has faced many challenges.
bioenergy
Renewable Energy Generation to Expand UK Waste-fired Bioenergy Plan
Renewable Energy Generation Ltd., a British low-carbon asset developer backed by BlackRock Inc., will build six waste-to-power plants with Caterpillar Inc. and Finning U.K. Ltd. in an expansion of plans published last month.
bioenergy
Brazil Bioenergy Bonanza: New Biofuel Refinery in the Works, Areva To Build 150-MW Biomass Plant
Brazil, known as a leader in the bioenergy scene, continues to show its dominance in the industry with plans for a new cellulosic ethanol plant and a 150-MW woody biomass plant, the nation's largest.
bioenergy
Land Claim Could Halt South Africa Bioenergy Project
A land claim brought against South Africa’s largest sugar farmer threatens to stop a 1.1 billion rand ($90 million) renewable-energy project that will produce electricity by burning leftover cane leaves and tops.
bioenergy
Finland Election Winner Plans to Turn Forests into Bioenergy Gold
Juha Sipila, who once converted his own Chevrolet to run on wood-gas, is counting on the abundant Finnish forests to provide the key to an economic revival.
bioenergy
Bioenergy, the Ugly Duckling of Mexico’s Energy Transition
Rosa Manzano carefully arranges pieces of wood in a big mud igloo that, seven days after it is full, will produce charcoal of high caloric content. “Our forest also produces oak, which in the past was only sold as firewood and had little value. But with forest management and the work of women who have […]
The post Bioenergy, the Ugly Duckling of Mexico’s Energy Transition appeared first on Inter Press Service.
bioenergy
Australian bioenergy roadmap : setting the direction for biomass in stationary energy to 2020 and beyond
bioenergy