Comparison of Long-Term Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage to Reference Power Generation Technologies Using CO<sub>2</sub> Avoidance Cost in the U.S.
Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) can sequester atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub>, while producing electricity. The CO<sub>2</sub> avoidance cost (CAC) is used to calculate the marginal cost of avoided CO<sub>2</sub> emissions for BECCS as compared to oth...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | article |
| Language: | EN |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doaj.org/article/1176d97d81724089b967f18cf93ef2e0 |
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| Summary: | Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) can sequester atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub>, while producing electricity. The CO<sub>2</sub> avoidance cost (CAC) is used to calculate the marginal cost of avoided CO<sub>2</sub> emissions for BECCS as compared to other established energy technologies. A comparative analysis using four different reference-case power plants for CAC calculations is performed here to evaluate the CO<sub>2</sub> avoidance cost of BECCS implementation. Results from this work demonstrate that BECCS can generate electricity at costs competitive with other neutral emissions technologies, while simultaneously removing CO<sub>2</sub> from the atmosphere. Approximately 73% of current coal power plants are approaching retirement by the year 2035 in the U.S. After considering CO<sub>2</sub> sequestered from the atmosphere and coal power plant CO<sub>2</sub> emissions displaced by BECCS, CO<sub>2</sub> emissions can be reduced by 1.4 billion tonnes per year in the U.S. alone at a cost of $88 to $116 per tonne of CO<sub>2</sub> removed from the atmosphere, for 10% to 90% of available biomass used, respectively. CAC calculations in this paper indicate that BECCS can help the U.S. and other countries transition to a decarbonized electricity grid, as simulations presented in this paper predict that BECCS power plants operate at lower CACs than coal plants with CCS. |
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