Carbon capture from biomass and waste incineration: Hype versus reality
This report was published by Biofuelwatch.
Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) is increasingly being promoted as a climate change mitigation strategy. Governments are developing funding and business frameworks to incentivize such projects, often classifying BECCS as a 'carbon removals technology.' This classification relies on the false assumption that biomass energy is carbon neutral and that capturing and storing CO2 from burning biomass makes it 'carbon negative.'
Waste incinerator operators are capitalizing on the push for BECCS by developing carbon capture projects, claiming these could be 'carbon negative' if the waste burned is predominantly biogenic rather than from fossil fuels.
However, BECCS faces significant criticism, as it is being used to legitimise further fossil fuel burning. As shown in the report, carbon capture technologies were initially developed to serve fossil fuel interests by enabling more fossil gas combustion. Carbon capture itself is derived from a process used to remove toxic hydrogen sulphide and CO2 from fossil gas so as to allow more gas to be burned for energy.
The report also delves into the technical challenges of capturing carbon from biomass (and by implication mixed waste) combustion.
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