https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200629202014.htm

There has been a growing interest in the use of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) to achieve a net reduction in greenhouse gases. BECCS involves the combustion of biomass to generate energy, using trees and grasses grown on both agricultural land and marginal land unsuitable for food crops. The resulting CO2 emissions are captured, compressed, and transported to suitable underground storage sites. BECCS is an example of a Negative Emission Technology (NET), with others including the direct capture of CO2 from the air, afforestation and carbon capture by trees, and pulverisation of rocks to enhance the natural weathering process and CO2 uptake. These are controversial technologies because they are largely untested at scale and because we have limited understanding of their wider impacts on society and the environment.

The new study, led by the University of Southampton and published in the journal GCB Bioenergy, looked at six potential locations for BECCS power plants across the UK. Each site was assessed on a number of criteria including proximity to CO2 storage sites, costs of transporting biocrops as well as the potential for soil sequestration (the process by which crops remove CO2 from the atmosphere) and flood mitigation. The researchers also calculated welfare value by integrated the costs and the potential for environmental benefits.