Gaps and opportunities for BECC(U)S in current policies from a scientific view

Transcription

1 Gaps and opportunities for BECC(U)S in current policies from a scientific view Uwe R. Fritsche Scientific Director, IINAS International Institute for Sustainability Analysis and Strategy presented at the IEA Bioenergy/EC Workshop Political and regulatory issues related to Bio-CC(U)S , Brussels

2 Energy: Land use intensity Product Electricity Liquid Fuel Land use intensity [m 2 /MWh] Primary energy source U.S. U.S. data a) data b) EU data c) UNEP d) Typical e) Nuclear Natural gas Coal Underground Surface ( open-cast ) Renewables Wind Geothermal Hydropower (large dams) Solar photovoltaic Solar concentrated CSP Biomass (from crops) Fossil oil Biofuels Corn (maize) Sugarcane (from juice) Sugarcane (residue) 0.1 Soybean Cellulose, short rotation coppice Cellulose, residue Source: Fritsche, Uwe et al. (2017) Energy and land. Working paper for the Global Land Outlook. Darmstadt etc. 2

3 Energy: Land and GHG intensity Source: Hernandez, Rebecca et al. (2018) article in Nature Climate Change (forthcoming)

4 BECC(U)S: Gaps in Knowledge Deploying large-scale BECCS may induce large-scale LUC that could cancel up to half of assumed CO 2 sequestration, with significant water and nutrients requirements, and biodiversity impacts. BECCS pilot plants: overall performance, cost and social acceptance remain a challenge (CA, CN, DE, NL, NO, US ) Dependence of BECCS on fossil CCS? BECCU sequestration timeframe: fuels?

5 BECC(U)S: Gaps in Governance Accounting for biogenic C: no agreed approach yet, and no policy instrument (except bio-preferred in the US for bio-based products) BECCU faces specific regulatory problems, as C tracking requires cross-sectoral approach In a broader sense, seismic risks from CCS also need to be considered, as they restrict land use Underground storage of captured CO 2 not only social acceptance issue, but may conflict with other subsurface land uses (e.g., geothermal)

6 Geoengineering: not just BECCS (1) Source: Minx, Jan et al. (2017) Fast growing research on negative emissions. Environ. Res. Lett. 12:

7 Geoengineering: not just BECCS (2) Source: Galaz, Victor (2012) Geo-engineering, Governance, and Social-Ecological Systems: Critical Issues and Joint Research Needs. Ecology and Society 17(1): 24 (yellow marker added by IINAS)

8 BECC(U)S: Sustainable Bioeconomy? Key role for biorefineries across sectors Sustainable food systems (protein, fibers etc. for food & feed; organic farming, agroforestry, aquaculture, balanced diets, reduced losses) Sustainable supply of biomaterials based on feedstocks from forestry, marginal/degraded land, re-use of biogenic residues/wastes BECC(U)S Sustainable supply of bioenergy (agroforestry, intercropping, marginal/degraded land, biogenic residues and wastes Global food security, secure land tenure Regional/local employment and value added (rural development) Sustainable production in agriculture, fishery and forestry Reduction of food losses, recycling of wastes (circularity) Conservation of ecosystem services (biodiversity, C sequestration, recreation, soil fertility, water )

9 Governing BECC(U)S and Land Use Source: Fritsche, Uwe et al. (2017) Energy and land. Working paper for the Global Land Outlook. Darmstadt etc. Notes: SDG = Sustainable Development Goals; UNCCD = United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification; RAI = Responsible Agricultural Investments; WB = World Bank; VGGT = Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests; UN FCCC = United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

10 Perspectives for BECC(U)S (1) With BECC(U)S, bioenergy would have a unique advantage over other renewable energies in terms of GHG reduction if feedstock supply could be managed sustainably (low GHG emissions and low negative environmental/social tradeoffs) Yet, deploying BECC(U)S may not become a significant reality due to questionable social acceptance of BECCS (deep storage sites, infrastructure) market limitations for BECCU products delivering net negative GHG balances (see Bellona analysis) Gaps of current climate governance due to cross-sectoral nature of BECCU (GHG allocation, double-counting etc.)

11 Perspectives for BECC(U)S (2) Given the climate change challenge, it is worth considering and testing BECCS and BECCU within sustainability governance adequately addressing LUC Biological C sequestration (afforestation & reforestation, agroforestry, restoring degraded land, biochar) needs testing, demonstration and deployment as well Governance should be part of a sustainable bioenergy framework (see IEA Bioenergy Roadmap, GBEP ), and SDG implementation

12 SDGs: The normative framework from:

13 Researching governance from:

14 More Information Inter-task project Measuring, governing and gaining support for sustainable bioenergy supply chains Resource-efficient bioeconomy in Europe Supporting a Sustainable European Bioenergy Trade Strategy Sustainable bioenergy in EU Contact: uf@iinas.org 14