Bioenergy with Carbon Capture will not work

The UK’s plan to get to net zero relies on Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) – burning trees or energy crops and capturing the carbon. The UK Government and Climate Change Committee think the UK will need lots of BECCS to reach net zero.

The UK Government has recently consulted on extending subsidies for bioenergy companies – worth billions of pounds – from 2027 into the 2030s, because those companies have promised to deliver Bioenergy Carbon Capture technology.

But research shows that the UK doesn’t need BECCS electricity to achieve net zero – it can do it without it as long as it is effective at reducing emissions from other sectors.

And BECCS doesn’t help reduce emissions anyway. It only looks like it provides a climate benefit if you completely ignore the impact on the forest. But two independent studies show that if you take into account the impact on stores of carbon in forests then BECCS actually increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Any CO2 captured at the power station is more than outweighed by stopping the forest from absorbing CO2 for decades.

BECCS would also be incredibly expensive – Ember thinktank estimates that a BECCS plant at Drax would need up to £43 billion of subsidies over its 25 year lifetime.