Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is one strategy to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere. To assess the potential scale and cost of CO₂ sequestration from BECCS in the US, this analysis models carbon sequestration net of supply chain emissions and costs of biomass production, delivery, power generation, and CO₂ capture and sequestration in saline formations. The analysis includes two biomass supply scenarios (near-term and long-term), two biomass logistics scenarios (conventional and pelletized), and two generation technologies (pulverized combustion and integrated gasification combined cycle). Results show marginal cost per tonne CO₂ (accounting for costs of electricity and CO₂ emissions of reference power generation scenarios) as a function of CO₂ sequestered (simulating capture of up to 90% of total CO₂ sequestration potential) and associated spatial distribution of resources and generation locations for the array of scenario options. Under a near-term scenario using up to 206 million tonnes per year of biomass, up to 181 million tonnes CO₂ can be sequestered annually at scenario-average costs ranging from $62 to $137 per tonne CO₂; under a long-term scenario using up to 740 million tonnes per year of biomass, up to 737 million tonnes CO₂ can be sequestered annually at scenario-average costs ranging from $42 to $92 per tonne CO₂. These estimates of CO₂ sequestration potential may be reduced if future competing demand reduces resource availability or may be increased if displaced emissions from conventional power sources are included. Results suggest there are large-scale opportunities to implement BECCS at moderate cost in the US, particularly in the Midwest, Plains States, and Texas.

Consumption of renewable energy in the United States is the highest in history, contributing to energy security, greenhouse gas reductions, and other social, economic, and environmental benefits. The largest single source of renewable energy is biomass, representing 3.9 quadrillion of 9.6 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) in 2015 (EIA 2016). Biomass includes agricultural and forestry resources, municipal solid waste (MSW), and algae. For more than a decade, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has been quantifying the potential of U.S. biomass resources, under biophysical and economic constraints, for production of renewable energy and bioproducts. The 2016 Billion-Ton Report: Advancing Domestic Resources for a Thriving Bioeconomy (BT16) evaluates the most recent estimates of potential biomass that could be available for new industrial uses in the future. BT16 consists of two volumes: Volume 1 (this volume) focuses on resource analysis—projecting biomass potentially available at specified prices. Volume 2 evaluates changes in environmental sustainability indicators— water quality and quantity, greenhouse gas emissions, air quality, soil organic carbon, and biodiversity—associated with select production scenarios in volume 1. The following is a summary of BT16, volume 1.

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) can sequester atmospheric CO₂, while producing electricity. The CO₂ avoidance cost (CAC) is used to calculate the marginal cost of avoided CO₂ emissions for BECCS as compared to other established energy technologies. A comparative analysis using four different reference-case power plants for CAC calculations is performed here to evaluate the CO₂ avoidance cost of BECCS implementation. Results from this work demonstrate that BECCS can generate electricity at costs competitive with other neutral emissions technologies, while simultaneously removing CO₂ from the atmosphere. Approximately 73% of current coal power plants are approaching retirement by the year 2035 in the U.S. After considering CO₂ sequestered from the atmosphere and coal power plant CO₂ emissions displaced by BECCS, CO₂ emissions can be reduced by 1.4 billion tonnes per year in the U.S. alone at a cost of $88 to $116 per tonne of CO₂ removed from the atmosphere, for 10% to 90% of available biomass used, respectively. CAC calculations in this paper indicate that BECCS can help the U.S. and other countries transition to a decarbonized electricity grid, as simulations presented in this paper predict that BECCS power plants operate at lower CACs than coal plants with CCS.

Bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration (BECCS) is one strategy to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. To assess the potential scale and cost of CO2 sequestration from BECCS in the US, this analysis models carbon efficiencies and costs of biomass production, delivery, power generation, and CO2 capture and sequestration in saline formations. The analysis includes two biomass supply scenarios (near-term and long-term), two biomass logistics scenarios (conventional and pelletized), two generation technologies (pulverized combustion and integrated gasification combined cycle), and three cost accounting scenarios (gross cost, net cost after electricity revenues, and net cost after electricity revenues with avoided emissions from conventional power generation). Results show cost Mg-1 CO2 as a function of CO2 sequestered (simulating capture up to 90% of total CO2 sequestration potential) and associated spatial distribution of resources and generation locations for the array of scenario options. Under a near-term scenario using 222 million Mg yr-1 of biomass, up to 196 million Mg CO2 can be sequestered at scenario-average costs ranging from $60 to $158 Mg 1 CO2; under a long-term scenario using 823 million Mg yr-1 of biomass, up to 727 million Mg CO2 yr 1 can be sequestered at scenario-average costs ranging from $32 to $242 Mg-1 CO2. These costs are largely influenced by cost accounting scenario, and the CO2 sequestration potential may be reduced if future competing demand reduces resource availability. Results suggest there are multiple feedstock-logistics-generation pathways toward CO2 drawdown that could be incrementally trialed and monitored for environmental sustainability effects. Interactive visualization of results is available at [final link to be determined].