Letter on carbon: Backing Beccs

Drax Power has secured planning permission to start developing one of the world’s largest commercial projects, but how robust is the argument for deploying Beccs at scale?

Policymakers and the IEA have been telling us for some time that bioenergy with CCS (Beccs) will be needed at scale if we are to achieve net zero. But scepticism over the technology’s claimed ability to deliver negative emissions, or carbon removal, as well as serious doubts over its economic viability and its access to enough sustainably sourced feedstock have constrained its growth. Based on projects in the early and advanced stages of deployment, carbon removal via Beccs could reach just under 50mt/yr by 2030, according to the IEA. This falls far short of the approximately 190mt/yr by 2030 needed for the agency’s Net Zero Emissions by 2050 (NZE) Scenario. However, deployment of Beccs is g