Leveraging the bioeconomy for carbon drawdown

• Published in: Green chemistry : an international journal and green chemistry resource : GC 2023-04, Vol.25 (8), p.293-2957
• Main Authors: Dees, John P, Sagues, William Joe, Woods, Ethan, Goldstein, Hannah M, Simon, A. J, Sanchez, Daniel L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biomass; Bioplastics; Carbon dioxide; Carbon sequestration; Charcoal; Climate change; Climate change mitigation; Drawdown; Durability; Emissions; Energy value; Green chemistry; Greenhouse gases; Life cycle analysis; Life cycle assessment; Life cycles; Renewable energy; Soil amendment; Stored products; Supply chains; Wood products
• ISSN: 1463-9262; 1463-9270
• DOI: 10.1039/d2gc02483g

Stringent climate change mitigation scenarios rely on large-scale drawdown of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Amongst drawdown technologies, bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration (BECCS) has received considerable attention in the climate mitigation literature. Recently, attention has shifted further from a relatively narrow focus on BECCS to a broader focus on Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS). The concept of BiCRS has the potential to enable a future where the climate mitigation value of biomass resources is more valuable than the energy value, due to the potential to remove and sequester large quantities atmospheric CO 2 . This article provides a qualitative overview of prominent BiCRS technologies from which a set of the most promising technologies are assessed quantitively through life cycle assessment. There are numerous opportunities to incorporate carbon removal and management within the bioeconomy, but the majority of immediate carbon removal potential exists in four bioproducts: bioenergy, bioplastics, biochar, and wood products. We analyze the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions and disposition of sequestered carbon over 10 000 years for four bioproducts representative of each broader category: an advanced BECCS pathway, biopolyethylene, oriented strand board, and biochar soil amendment. We find that the BECCS pathway has the greatest magnitude and durability of CO 2 storage over all time horizons. However, non-BECCS pathways achieve 34-64% of the drawdown magnitude relative to BECCS and retain 55-67% of their initial drawdown over 100 years (central estimate). We identify three engineering strategies for enhancing carbon drawdown: reducing biomass supply chain emissions, maximizing carbon stored in long-lived products, and extending the term of carbon storage. Finally, we highlight the need to characterize both the magnitude and permanence of carbon drawdown as a means for policymakers and technology developers to deploy limited biomass resources to maximize mitigation benefits. A review and analysis of opportunities for long-term carbon dioxide removal and storage in biomass-derived products.