Comparison of Long-Term Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage to Reference Power Generation Technologies Using CO 2 Avoidance Cost in the U.S

Abishek Kasturi, Sotira Yiacoumi, Matthew Langholtz, Joanna McFarlane, Ingrid Busch, Michael Hilliard and Costas Tsouris
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Abishek Kasturi: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
Sotira Yiacoumi: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
Matthew Langholtz: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
Joanna McFarlane: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
Ingrid Busch: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
Michael Hilliard: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
Costas Tsouris: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 21, 1-22

Abstract: Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) can sequester atmospheric CO 2 , while producing electricity. The CO 2 avoidance cost (CAC) is used to calculate the marginal cost of avoided CO 2 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 2 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 2 from the atmosphere. Approximately 73% of current coal power plants are approaching retirement by the year 2035 in the U.S. After considering CO 2 sequestered from the atmosphere and coal power plant CO 2 emissions displaced by BECCS, CO 2 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 2 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.

Keywords: BECCS; CCS; CO 2 avoidance cost; negative emissions; bioenergy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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