Many climate projections rely on a lot of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) for CO₂ removal (CDR). Usually the criticism is of the biomass part, but given the uncertainty in CCS, how can we be so confident about scaling BECCS?
October 5, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Many climate projections rely on a lot of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) for CO₂ removal (CDR). Usually the criticism is of the biomass part, but given the uncertainty in CCS, how can we be so confident about scaling BECCS?
We can find suitable land with sunlight, water, and nutrients to grow plants, wait years to harvest the biomass and burn it for energy, hope to capture the CO₂ with carbon capture and storage technology, and find a suitable spot to bury the CO₂ permanently.
OR we can use solar panels.
OR we can use solar panels.
October 29, 2025 at 12:50 PM
We can find suitable land with sunlight, water, and nutrients to grow plants, wait years to harvest the biomass and burn it for energy, hope to capture the CO₂ with carbon capture and storage technology, and find a suitable spot to bury the CO₂ permanently.
OR we can use solar panels.
OR we can use solar panels.
Can we finally agree that burning wood for energy is a terrible idea and won't be carbon neutral, let alone carbon negative, in our lifetimes? BECCS using wood certainly shouldn't qualify as CO₂ removal (CDR).
Many govts hope capturing carbon from power plants burning wood will cause "negative emissions." New Nature Sust. paper today finds this likely increases emissions for decades, generates no negative emissions within 150 years, and increase electricity costs ~3.5-fold.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Decades of increased emissions from forest-fuelled BECCS - Nature Sustainability
Governments are considering subsidies for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage fuelled by wood from existing forests. However, a transparent model estimates that this will probably increase emiss...
www.nature.com
April 20, 2026 at 10:33 AM
Can we finally agree that burning wood for energy is a terrible idea and won't be carbon neutral, let alone carbon negative, in our lifetimes? BECCS using wood certainly shouldn't qualify as CO₂ removal (CDR).
I’m guessing this has a few implications for gigatonne scale BECCS, if it worked reliably in the first place. If we need to maximize food production while releasing unproductive land to reforestation, while growing enough biomass for chemical feedstocks, there probably just isn’t room for BECCS.
Data check: humanity has destroyed ~1/3 of 🌎 forests, mostly for agricultural expansion to feed more people.
To feed 9-10B people by 2050 while ending deforestation, 🌎 needs to sustainably increase productivity, minimize food waste, shift high-meat diets toward plants, and stop biofuel expansion.
To feed 9-10B people by 2050 while ending deforestation, 🌎 needs to sustainably increase productivity, minimize food waste, shift high-meat diets toward plants, and stop biofuel expansion.
September 24, 2026 at 1:04 AM
I’m guessing this has a few implications for gigatonne scale BECCS, if it worked reliably in the first place. If we need to maximize food production while releasing unproductive land to reforestation, while growing enough biomass for chemical feedstocks, there probably just isn’t room for BECCS.
If you think BECCS (using wood as an electricity source, hoping to capture carbon) will save us, you should really read this paper.
Many govts hope capturing carbon from power plants burning wood will cause "negative emissions." New Nature Sust. paper today finds this likely increases emissions for decades, generates no negative emissions within 150 years, and increase electricity costs ~3.5-fold.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Decades of increased emissions from forest-fuelled BECCS - Nature Sustainability
Governments are considering subsidies for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage fuelled by wood from existing forests. However, a transparent model estimates that this will probably increase emiss...
www.nature.com
April 20, 2026 at 3:05 PM
If you think BECCS (using wood as an electricity source, hoping to capture carbon) will save us, you should really read this paper.
Stop subsidie voor verbranden van #biomassa! mailchi.mp/comiteschone...
Persbericht: Laatste kans voor Tweede Kamer: stop miljarden subsidies voor biomassa en BECCS
mailchi.mp
April 14, 2026 at 6:13 AM
Stop subsidie voor verbranden van #biomassa! mailchi.mp/comiteschone...
Might be time to bust out one of my favourite climate stories of all time: how BECCS was mostly a kind of model hallucination
Can we finally agree that burning wood for energy is a terrible idea and won't be carbon neutral, let alone carbon negative, in our lifetimes? BECCS using wood certainly shouldn't qualify as CO₂ removal (CDR).
Many govts hope capturing carbon from power plants burning wood will cause "negative emissions." New Nature Sust. paper today finds this likely increases emissions for decades, generates no negative emissions within 150 years, and increase electricity costs ~3.5-fold.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
April 20, 2026 at 1:05 PM
Might be time to bust out one of my favourite climate stories of all time: how BECCS was mostly a kind of model hallucination
gave the clam his own special headshot, added in BECCs and fossil hydrogen
September 24, 2025 at 7:17 AM
gave the clam his own special headshot, added in BECCs and fossil hydrogen
ICYMI: the people who said BECCS was everything have decided that BECCS probably isn't anything.
Drax power plant to cut carbon capture investment despite record £1bn profit
Move comes after government said it would halve subsidies that allowed firm to make ‘unacceptably large profits’
www.theguardian.com
February 28, 2025 at 10:20 PM
ICYMI: the people who said BECCS was everything have decided that BECCS probably isn't anything.
Someone explain to me why this is better than BECCS or biochar or burying wood in the Black Sea.
Clever new carbon sequestration idea: bury wood.
Burying Wood Debris Can Help Slow Global Warming, Study Shows | College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences | University of Maryland
UMD Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Professor Ning Zeng co-authored new research on a simple way to capture carb
cmns.umd.edu
October 27, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Someone explain to me why this is better than BECCS or biochar or burying wood in the Black Sea.
Worse still is BECCS - bioenergy carbon capture & Storage. This - still supported by the CCC (and NFU); would cause millions of acres of land to be given over to producing crops (for anaerobic digesters) like Maize which are very environmentally damaging. And still provide no benefit to the climate.
Yes, the UK government SHOULD abandon its Carbon Capture and Storage scheme, which
a. would cause a net *increase* in emissions
b. is unlikely to work
c. uses tens of billions that'd be much better spent on genuinely green projects.
Let's hope it has seen sense.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
a. would cause a net *increase* in emissions
b. is unlikely to work
c. uses tens of billions that'd be much better spent on genuinely green projects.
Let's hope it has seen sense.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Labour’s carbon-capture scheme will be Starmer’s white elephant: a terrible mistake costing billions | George Monbiot
The supposedly green project – brainchild of the previous Tory government – will increase emissions, not reduce them, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
March 3, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Worse still is BECCS - bioenergy carbon capture & Storage. This - still supported by the CCC (and NFU); would cause millions of acres of land to be given over to producing crops (for anaerobic digesters) like Maize which are very environmentally damaging. And still provide no benefit to the climate.
sketchbook, ipad, ice coffee, jam it all into the tote (then lose the stuff because you have dozens of totes)
#starterpack #handmade #noai
#starterpack #handmade #noai
April 15, 2025 at 1:37 AM
sketchbook, ipad, ice coffee, jam it all into the tote (then lose the stuff because you have dozens of totes)
#starterpack #handmade #noai
#starterpack #handmade #noai
But most shocking is this - Drax plans to use the Bio Energy or BECCS approach to Carbon Capture and Storage and it is by far the most water expensive route - where ‘direct air’ capture uses 4 tonnes of water per tonne of CO2 - BECCS uses 400 tonnes…..an unbelievable amount of water.
December 1, 2025 at 12:20 PM
But most shocking is this - Drax plans to use the Bio Energy or BECCS approach to Carbon Capture and Storage and it is by far the most water expensive route - where ‘direct air’ capture uses 4 tonnes of water per tonne of CO2 - BECCS uses 400 tonnes…..an unbelievable amount of water.
October 30, 2023 at 3:41 PM
„Ich wünsche mir eine Welt, in der wir alle angstfrei leben können.“
Beccs Riley im neuen #autismusmagazin 02.2026.
JETZT BESTELLEN: autismus-dialog.de/magazin/02-2...
#AutismusDialog #Zeitschrift #Autismus #Magazin #Identität #Diversity #Neurodiversität #SAP #Beruf #Freundschaft
Beccs Riley im neuen #autismusmagazin 02.2026.
JETZT BESTELLEN: autismus-dialog.de/magazin/02-2...
#AutismusDialog #Zeitschrift #Autismus #Magazin #Identität #Diversity #Neurodiversität #SAP #Beruf #Freundschaft
September 19, 2026 at 10:40 AM
„Ich wünsche mir eine Welt, in der wir alle angstfrei leben können.“
Beccs Riley im neuen #autismusmagazin 02.2026.
JETZT BESTELLEN: autismus-dialog.de/magazin/02-2...
#AutismusDialog #Zeitschrift #Autismus #Magazin #Identität #Diversity #Neurodiversität #SAP #Beruf #Freundschaft
Beccs Riley im neuen #autismusmagazin 02.2026.
JETZT BESTELLEN: autismus-dialog.de/magazin/02-2...
#AutismusDialog #Zeitschrift #Autismus #Magazin #Identität #Diversity #Neurodiversität #SAP #Beruf #Freundschaft
In a preprint, researchers from Princeton, Hong Kong U, & WRI find that the form of carbon removal called "bioenergy w carbon capture & storage," or BECCS, is "likely to produce higher emissions for decades than using natural gas without carbon capture."
This is a Big Deal because the IPCC...
1/3
This is a Big Deal because the IPCC...
1/3
March 19, 2026 at 5:10 PM
In a preprint, researchers from Princeton, Hong Kong U, & WRI find that the form of carbon removal called "bioenergy w carbon capture & storage," or BECCS, is "likely to produce higher emissions for decades than using natural gas without carbon capture."
This is a Big Deal because the IPCC...
1/3
This is a Big Deal because the IPCC...
1/3
The IPCC has compiled and reported on mitigation models that supposedly demonstrate that we can overshoot any temperature target we like but "reverse" that overshoot using carbon dioxide removal.
What *kind* of removal is posited in those models? Why BECCS, of course.
2/n
What *kind* of removal is posited in those models? Why BECCS, of course.
2/n
March 19, 2026 at 5:16 PM
The IPCC has compiled and reported on mitigation models that supposedly demonstrate that we can overshoot any temperature target we like but "reverse" that overshoot using carbon dioxide removal.
What *kind* of removal is posited in those models? Why BECCS, of course.
2/n
What *kind* of removal is posited in those models? Why BECCS, of course.
2/n
@barrygardiner.bsky.social in Parliament rightly calling out bioenergy at Drax power station as highly damaging to the climate. #BECCS
Let's pass the #CANBill to drive the science-led action necessary for a liveable future. www.zerohour.uk
Let's pass the #CANBill to drive the science-led action necessary for a liveable future. www.zerohour.uk
January 24, 2025 at 10:44 AM
@barrygardiner.bsky.social in Parliament rightly calling out bioenergy at Drax power station as highly damaging to the climate. #BECCS
Let's pass the #CANBill to drive the science-led action necessary for a liveable future. www.zerohour.uk
Let's pass the #CANBill to drive the science-led action necessary for a liveable future. www.zerohour.uk
As we have always known. BECCS is bollox
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Burning wood for power worse for climate than gas equivalent, report finds
Research casts doubt on plans by UK government to offer subsidies for carbon capture attached to the power source
www.theguardian.com
April 20, 2026 at 9:25 AM
As we have always known. BECCS is bollox
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
The man never seemed to pause for a breath before moving onto the next deceptive climate claim and painting a complex but comprehensible picture. Hydrogen, BECCs, DACC, offsets - he took shots at them all
What a bloody legend. I hope you take some time to engage with his work if you haven't already
What a bloody legend. I hope you take some time to engage with his work if you haven't already
September 19, 2026 at 6:37 PM
The man never seemed to pause for a breath before moving onto the next deceptive climate claim and painting a complex but comprehensible picture. Hydrogen, BECCs, DACC, offsets - he took shots at them all
What a bloody legend. I hope you take some time to engage with his work if you haven't already
What a bloody legend. I hope you take some time to engage with his work if you haven't already
€2.6 miljard schade voor belastingbetaler als er geen extra wind en zon op land komt en als er geen grootschalige BECCS en AVI's+CCS en CDR komen voor 2030.
Tekort aan duurzame energie kan Nederland miljarden euro's kosten | Zonde! Gebruik geld liever voor verduurzaming in Nederland, dat maakt ons onafhankelijker en biedt kansen aan mensen en bedrijven
@nieuws.nos.nl
nos.nl/artikel/2598...
@nieuws.nos.nl
nos.nl/artikel/2598...
Tekort aan duurzame energie kan Nederland miljarden euro's kosten
Nederland dreigt vanaf 2030 gedwongen te worden duurzame energieprojecten in andere Europese landen te financieren, omdat we zelf minder produceren dan afgesproken.
nos.nl
January 15, 2026 at 7:40 AM
€2.6 miljard schade voor belastingbetaler als er geen extra wind en zon op land komt en als er geen grootschalige BECCS en AVI's+CCS en CDR komen voor 2030.
The problem with sustainable aviation fuel made from biomass is the same problem with BECCS. You'd need too much land to grow that much biomass.
People hate hearing it, but a livable future requires alternative means of travel and taking fewer flights.
People hate hearing it, but a livable future requires alternative means of travel and taking fewer flights.
No.
And anyone who says it can is lying to you.
Climate Emergency. There's a clue in the last word.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
And anyone who says it can is lying to you.
Climate Emergency. There's a clue in the last word.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Electric planes, new fuel: Can Heathrow's third runway be green?
BBC Verify assesses whether Chancellor Rachel Reeves' three key climate claims about the runway add up.
www.bbc.com
January 29, 2025 at 9:03 AM
The problem with sustainable aviation fuel made from biomass is the same problem with BECCS. You'd need too much land to grow that much biomass.
People hate hearing it, but a livable future requires alternative means of travel and taking fewer flights.
People hate hearing it, but a livable future requires alternative means of travel and taking fewer flights.
The four-year contract gives time for govt to assess the "potential role" for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS)
–> govt not committing yet (but NB BECCS is a key part of govt strategy for net-zero)
5/5
–> govt not committing yet (but NB BECCS is a key part of govt strategy for net-zero)
5/5
February 10, 2025 at 9:18 AM
The four-year contract gives time for govt to assess the "potential role" for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS)
–> govt not committing yet (but NB BECCS is a key part of govt strategy for net-zero)
5/5
–> govt not committing yet (but NB BECCS is a key part of govt strategy for net-zero)
5/5
Uusiutuvan energian osuuden lisääminen itsessään ei ole enää Suomelle järkevä tavoite. Parempi mittari olisi päästöttömyys tai polttamattomuus (toki BECCS huomioiden).
October 6, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Uusiutuvan energian osuuden lisääminen itsessään ei ole enää Suomelle järkevä tavoite. Parempi mittari olisi päästöttömyys tai polttamattomuus (toki BECCS huomioiden).
SSP tweeps: does SSP2-45 have a lot of CCS/BECCS in it? I've looked at the numbers and am shocked at how much there is. But I'd like to verify I'm not doing something dumb.
cc: @pfriedling.bsky.social
cc: @pfriedling.bsky.social
August 31, 2026 at 5:50 AM
SSP tweeps: does SSP2-45 have a lot of CCS/BECCS in it? I've looked at the numbers and am shocked at how much there is. But I'd like to verify I'm not doing something dumb.
cc: @pfriedling.bsky.social
cc: @pfriedling.bsky.social