Biobased solutions for negative emissions

24/01/2025

Biomass and bio-based products may play a vital role in reaching net-zero climate targets by capturing and storing the biogenic CO₂ emitted during its use, thereby possibly contributing to negative emissions. Several policy instruments related to negative emissions are under development, both at national and EU level.

In Germany, the forthcoming strategy on long-term negative emissions could lead to a revision of the carbon storage law (KSpG) that currently sets the regulatory frame for Carbon capture and storage (CCS) (see report in German). At EU level, the recently provisionally agreed Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF) continues to be discussed in expert group meetings (more information here). Hence, the debate on what incentive instruments are needed is currently very active (e.g., SWP 2023).

At the 2024 DBFZ annual conference on " Multi-talented biomass: primary raw material, carbon source and energy option" (see press release), scientists, practitioners and policymakers discussed, among other topics, the potential of biomass to permanently remove CO₂ from the atmosphere. This process is called Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR). The umbrella term of land-based CDR covers natural sink enhancement options in agriculture or on organic soils including peatlands, in forestry, in bio-based building materials, in the context of bioenergy production with CO₂ capture and storage (BECCS) as well as in the form of biochar.

In the session opening, Ronja Wollnik presented recent DBFZ activities on the topic from the different departments, including the project "Multi-level assessment of bio-based negative emission technologies" (BioNET) as a large scheme within the CDRterra research programme. She described the heterogeneity of the emerging research field and its overlap with research in the areas of biochar, biogas upgrading and methanation, policy analyses and system indicator development.

For the construction sector, Jakob Hildebrandt from ZIRKON described how to store carbon in the built environment and showed the status of wood-based and fibre-based materials used in the construction sector in Germany, which are still under development. Jakob emphasised that we urgently need incentives in non-energy sectors such as from carbon pricing to clear the backlog in energy-efficient refurbishment and to incentivise a sustainable building sector, including CDR potential, as soon as possible. Also, to become a leader in innovation and competitive as exporter, Germany needs to act in this area now to facilitate techno-economic learning and to explore where it is possible to leverage competitive advantages of CO₂-negative building materials.

Franziska Koebsch from University of Greifswald highlighted a nuanced view of peatland rewetting for climate protection. While rewetting can offer a reliable method for significantly reducing current emissions, the creation of greenhouse gas sinks is very complex and is contingent on optimal rewetting conditions. Hence, the reduction potential may vary regionally. Generally, the primary climate benefit of rewetting in Germany is estimated to be in the range of a reduction of 55 million tonnes of CO₂-equivalent emissions annually from peatland drainage. Additionally, paludiculture, the agricultural utilization of wet peatlands, can enhance the climate mitigation of peatland rewetting through product-based sinks. However, policy must overcome the existing legal, economic, and socio-economic challenges to unlock the full potential of this sustainable land use type.

Christian Bang from Ea Energy Analyses gave insights into the first BECCS projects being researched as part of the International Energy Agency Bioenergy Technology Collaboration Programme's ‘Management of Biogenic CO₂: BECCUS’ project, which he is coordinating together with Christiane Hennig from the DBFZ. Christian gave an overview of BECCS and the exploration of CO₂ storage projects in Denmark, focussing on the Danish government's policy and the factors that have led to this successful development. The first tender for a fund to promote carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies was financially attractive for private actors and the tender round was well received. The presentation described a large-scale BECCS project, the winner of the first tender round, which is expected to be fully operational by 2026, and went on to discuss large-scale onshore and offshore CO₂ storage projects, which are expected to be fully operational by 2030.

Closing in on governance for bio-based CDR, Nils Matzner from Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research advocated for getting stakeholder on board for CDR governance and analysing the dimensions of current governance, demand and supply as well as multi-level governance.

The conference reader (in German) containing all presentations mentioned above is available for download.

Further information on CDR with biomass can be found here:

• Factsheet collection on bio-based options for CDR and accompanying publication on temporal and cost dynamics
• CDRterra research program on land-based CDR in Germany
• Governance for CDR: Otto & Matzner 2024
• International BECCS projects: https://www.ieabioenergy.com/blog/task/deployment-of-beccus-value-chains/ and https://task40.ieabioenergy.com/inter-task-beccus-2-0/

With biomass-based CDR being a key topic in biomass research, DBFZ will continue to cover developments in related technology and policies in this blog.