Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Biomass enables the transition to a carbon-negative power system across western North America

Nature Climate Change volume 5, pages 230–234 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

An Addendum to this article was published on 02 March 2017

This article has been updated

Abstract

Sustainable biomass can play a transformative role in the transition to a decarbonized economy, with potential applications in electricity, heat, chemicals and transportation fuels1,2,3. Deploying bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration (BECCS) results in a net reduction in atmospheric carbon. BECCS may be one of the few cost-effective carbon-negative opportunities available should anthropogenic climate change be worse than anticipated or emissions reductions in other sectors prove particularly difficult4,5. Previous work, primarily using integrated assessment models, has identified the critical role of BECCS in long-term (pre- or post-2100 time frames) climate change mitigation, but has not investigated the role of BECCS in power systems in detail, or in aggressive time frames6,7, even though commercial-scale facilities are starting to be deployed in the transportation sector8. Here, we explore the economic and deployment implications for BECCS in the electricity system of western North America under aggressive (pre-2050) time frames and carbon emissions limitations, with rich technology representation and physical constraints. We show that BECCS, combined with aggressive renewable deployment and fossil-fuel emission reductions, can enable a carbon-negative power system in western North America by 2050 with up to 145% emissions reduction from 1990 levels. In most scenarios, the offsets produced by BECCS are found to be more valuable to the power system than the electricity it provides. Advanced biomass power generation employs similar system design to advanced coal technology, enabling a transition strategy to low-carbon energy.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Supply curve of available solid biomass post-2030.
Figure 2: Generation, power cost and carbon emissions in 2050.
Figure 3: Hourly dispatch in 2050 in the −145% case.

Similar content being viewed by others

Change history

  • 02 March 2017

    The authors omitted to cite a paper32 that introduces the SWITCH optimimization model. References 32. Fripp, M. Switch: a planning tool for power systems with large shares of intermittent renewable energy. Environ. Sci. Technol. 46, 6371–6378 (2012).

References

  1. Demirbaş, A. Sustainable cofiring of biomass with coal. Energy Convers. Manage. 44, 1465–1479 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Farrell, A. E. & Gopal, A. R. Bioenergy research needs for heat, electricity, and liquid fuels. MRS Bull. 33, 373–380 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Liu, G., Larson, E. D., Williams, R. H., Kreutz, T. G. & Guo, X. Making Fischer–Tropsch fuels and electricity from coal and biomass: Performance and cost analysis. Energy Fuels 25, 415–437 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Hansen, J. et al. Target atmospheric CO2: Where should humanity aim? Open Atmos. Sci. J. 2, 217–231 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Read, P. & Lermit, J. Bio-energy with carbon storage (BECS): A sequential decision approach to the threat of abrupt climate change. Energy 30, 2654–2671 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Milne, J. L. & Field, C. B. Assessment Report from the GCEP Workshop on Energy Supply with Negative Carbon Emissions (Global Climate and Energy Project, Stanford University, 2012); http://go.nature.com/CfV51n

    Google Scholar 

  7. Smith, P. et al. in Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change (eds Edenhofer, O. et al.) 870–886 (IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2014); http://mitigation2014.org

    Google Scholar 

  8. Gollakota, S. & McDonald, S. CO2 capture from ethanol production and storage into the Mt Simon Sandstone. Greenhouse Gases Sci. Technol. 2, 346–351 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Benson, S. M. Negative-emissions insurance. Science 344, 1431 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Wei, M. et al. Deep carbon reductions in California require electrification and integration across economic sectors. Environ. Res. Lett. 8, 014038 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Mileva, A., Nelson, J. H., Johnston, J. & Kammen, D. M. SunShot solar power reduces costs and uncertainty in future low-carbon electricity systems. Environ. Sci. Technol. 47, 9053–9060 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Nelson, J. et al. High-resolution modeling of the western North American power system demonstrates low-cost and low-carbon futures. Energy Policy 43, 436–447 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Downing, M. et al. U.S. Billion-Ton Update: Biomass Supply for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 2011); http://www1.eere.energy.gov/bioenergy/pdfs/billion_ton_update.pdf

    Book  Google Scholar 

  14. Long, J. et al. California’s Energy Future-The View to 2050 (California Council on Science and Technology, 2011); http://www.ccst.us/publications/2011/2011energy.php

  15. Williams, J. H. et al. The technology path to deep greenhouse gas emissions cuts by 2050: The pivotal role of electricity. Science 335, 53–59 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Wei, M. et al. Scenarios for Meeting California’s 2050 Climate Goals (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2013); http://eetd.lbl.gov/sites/all/files/ca-2050-climate-goals.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  17. Klein, D. et al. The value of bioenergy in low stabilization scenarios: An assessment using REMIND-MAgPIE. Climatic Change 1–14 (2013).

  18. Solomon, B. D. Biofuels and sustainability. Ann. New York Acad. Sci. 1185, 119–134 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Abbasi, T. & Abbasi, S. A. Biomass energy and the environmental impacts associated with its production and utilization. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 14, 919–937 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Corti, A. & Lombardi, L. Biomass integrated gasification combined cycle with reduced CO2 emissions: Performance analysis and life cycle assessment (LCA). Energy 29, 2109–2124 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Maxson, A., Holt, N., Thimsen, D., Wheeldon, J. & Worrell, E. Advanced Coal Power Systems with CO2 Capture: EPRI’s CoalFleet for Tomorrow® Vision (Electric Power Research Institute, 2011).

    Google Scholar 

  22. Farrell, A. E. et al. Ethanol can contribute to energy and environmental goals. Science 311, 506–508 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Campbell, J. E., Lobell, D. B. & Field, C. B. Greater transportation energy and GHG offsets from bioelectricity than ethanol. Science 324, 1055–1057 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Nabuurs, G. J. et al. in Climate Change 2007: Mitigation of Climate Change (eds Metz, B., Davidson, O., Bosch, P., Dave, R. & Meyer, L.) 541–584 (IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007); http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg3/ar4-wg3-chapter9.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  25. Pratt, K. & Moran, D. Evaluating the cost-effectiveness of global biochar mitigation potential. Biomass Bioenergy 34, 1149–1158 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Lutsey, N. & Sperling, D. Greenhouse gas mitigation supply curve for the United States for transport versus other sectors. Transp. Res. D 14, 222–229 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. House, K. Z. et al. Economic and energetic analysis of capturing CO2 from ambient air. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 108, 20428–20433 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Cost and Performance Data for Power Generation Technologies (Black Veatch, 2012).

  29. Matuszewski, M., Black, J. & Lewis, E. Greenhouse Gas Reductions in the Power Industry Using Domestic Coal and Biomass - Volume 1: IGCC (National Energy Technology Laboratory, 2013).

    Google Scholar 

  30. Rhodes, J. S. & Keith, D. W. Engineering economic analysis of biomass IGCC with carbon capture and storage. Biomass Bioenergy 29, 440–450 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Liska, A. J. et al. Biofuels from crop residue can reduce soil carbon and increase CO2 emissions. Nature Clim. Change 4, 398–401 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the California Energy Commission for support. This paper reflects the views of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the view of the California Energy Commission or the State of California. We thank the Class of 1935 of the University of California, Berkeley, the Karsten Family Foundation, the Zaffaroni Family (to D.M.K.), and the Link Foundation (to J.H.N.). This material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE 1106400 (to D.L.S.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Energy and Resources Group, 310 Barrows Hall #3050, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-3050, USA

    Daniel L. Sanchez, Josiah Johnston, Ana Mileva & Daniel M. Kammen

  2. Union of Concerned Scientists, 500 12th Street, Suite 340, Oakland, California 94607-4087, USA

    James H. Nelson

  3. Richard & Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley, 2607 Hearst Avenue, Room 308 Berkeley, California 94720-7320, USA,

    Daniel M. Kammen

Authors
  1. Daniel L. Sanchez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. James H. Nelson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Josiah Johnston
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ana Mileva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Daniel M. Kammen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

D.L.S., J.H.N., J.J. and A.M. designed research and analysed data; D.L.S. implemented biomass cofiring retrofits and drafted the paper; J.H.N. built the biomass supply curve; D.L.S., J.H.N., J.J., A.M. and D.M.K. revised the paper; D.M.K. supported development of the modelling platform and directs the research group.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel M. Kammen.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sanchez, D., Nelson, J., Johnston, J. et al. Biomass enables the transition to a carbon-negative power system across western North America. Nature Clim Change 5, 230–234 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2488

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2488

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing