Euroviews. The EU and UK are backing the wrong horse in the race to net zero

A bio gas plant is seen behind a wind turbine in Nauen, Germany, October 2012 The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent in any way the editorial position of Euronews. Bioenergy has been much in the headlines over the last year, especially regarding the reform of the EU’s rules for how burning forest wood qualifies as “renewable energy.” It’s always been far-fetched to rely on burning trees — which emit more CO2 than coal when burned and take decades to regrow — as a way to “reduce” emissions. But climate policy could be about to go further off-track with a new focus on biomass energy with carbon capture and storage, or BECCS, as a way to remove CO2 from the atmosphere (in climate-speak, achieve “negative emissions”). BECCS is a prime example of how to waste money on a hopeless technology. The idea is to take CO2 emissions from burning biomass — which in the EU and UK is mostly derived from forests — concentrate it, and pump it belowground into geological formations. The claim is that this process will suck CO2 out of the air. This holds an understandable appeal to policymakers, after all, who wouldn’t want to remove carbon from the atmosphere while generating electricity? A new biomass mapping tool can pinpoint the carbon of a single 30 metre tree 100 charities urge the EU to end use of some biomass as ‘renewable’ energy But do you see the problem? There’s nothing about taking the decades-old carbon stored in a tree and parking it belowground that will deliver “negative emissions”. It might prevent emissions from entering the atmosphere, as carbon capture and storage can theoretically achieve if used with coal, but it’s not going to draw down atmospheric CO2 in […]

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