This week’s publication highlights relate to bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, waste-to-energy with carbon capture and storage, forestation and EU carbon neutrality.
Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS): Interconnected Technological Challenges and Advances Using Biomass Thermochemical Conversion towards Negative Emissions
Abstract
Addressing the climate crisis demands both emission reduction and large-scale negative emission technologies capable of permanently removing CO2 from the atmosphere. Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is one of the most prominent options, as it integrates biomass conversion with CO2 capture, transportation, and geological storage. Unlike conventional CCS, BECCS links a biological supply chain with an engineered capture-storage chain, creating strong interdependencies in which limitations at one stage propagate throughout the system. This review synthesizes progress made over the past five years across the full BECCS chain. In the conversion and capture stages, feedstock variability and high moisture content increase purification requirements, raising energy penalties and costs. Residual impurities affect transportation, elevating hydrate formation and corrosion risks, which in turn require strict impurity thresholds. At the storage stage, geological uncertainties affect both trapping mechanisms and long-term integrity, which in turn intensifies monitoring requirements. Recent advances in seismic imaging and well logging have enhanced storage reliability; however, integration remains site-specific and costly. Incremental improvements are insufficient; system-wide integration, standardized feedstock management, cost-effective monitoring, and transparent regulatory frameworks are required. Supported by stable incentives and international cooperation, BECCS could deliver gigaton-scale negative emissions and contribute meaningfully to the 1.5 °C climate target.
Wong, M. et al. (2026) Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS): Interconnected Technological Challenges and Advances Using Biomass Thermochemical Conversion towards Negative Emissions 232 (116832) Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.
Read the full paper here: Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS): Interconnected Technological Challenges and Advances Using Biomass Thermochemical Conversion towards Negative Emissions I Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.
Life Cycle Assessment of Four Waste-to-Energy Plant Configurations Equipped with Post-Combustion Carbon Capture and Storage
Abstract
When equipped with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), Waste to Energy plants can directly reduce fossil carbon dioxide emissions from post-recycling residual waste while also re-capturing atmospheric carbon dioxide via the permanent geological storage of biogenic carbon uptake. Increasingly, municipal solid waste (MSW) is treated by incineration in dedicated plants where the heat from combustion is recovered via electricity generation and district heating. Post-combustion CO2 capture with amine-based technology can achieve ultra-high CO2 capture rates such that CO2 generated in the combustion of the waste feedstock results in no direct CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. The large biogenic content of residual waste feedstock presents a particular opportunity for bioenergy with CCS (BECCS).
A life cycle assessment LCA of the environmental impacts of a state-of-the-art WtE facility with CCS at ultra-high capture rates shows that adding CCS can provide a significant improvement in climate change impact, and achieve a net climate benefit. Without significant burden shifting to other environmental impact categories, the climate change impact of a WtE plant treating 500 tpd of MSW is reduced from 388 kg CO2eq/tMSW to -483 kg CO2eq/tMSW, with the biogenic CO2 captured and permanently stored accounted as negative CO2 emissions. When the avoided greenhouse gas emissions from electricity, district heating and material recovery are also included, the climate impact is -777 kg CO2eq/tMSW for a power-only WtE plant exporting 9.6 MWe, and -907 kg CO2eq/tMSW for a combined heat and power WtE plant exporting 6.2 MWe and 18.5 MWth.
Herraiz, L. et al. (2026) Life Cycle Assessment of Four Waste-to-Energy Plant Configurations Equipped with Post-Combustion Carbon Capture and Storage 151 (104588) International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control.
Read the full paper here: Life Cycle Assessment of Four Waste-to-Energy Plant Configurations Equipped with Post-Combustion Carbon Capture and Storage I International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control.
The Kyoto Protocol and Forests: Implications for Sustainable Development
Abstract
This study examines the influences of the Kyoto Protocol of 2005 on forestation using panel data for 163 countries from 1990 to 2020. A difference-in-differences (DID) research design is applied to estimate the effects of the protocol on forestation outcomes, measured by forest area and forest rents. On average, the Kyoto Protocol increases forest area by about 2.3% over the pre-Kyoto average. There is also a decrease in the economic exploitation of forests as the protocol is associated with about a one-third reduction in forest rent values on average. To address threats of identification in standard two-way fixed effects, we complement the estimates with alternative estimators, including synthetic and heterogeneous DID estimators developed by de Chaisemartin and D’Haultfœuille (Rev Econ Stat 1–45, 2024) and DID estimates with multiple treatment timings developed by Callaway and Sant’Anna (J Econ 225(2):200–230, 2021). Robustness checks using equivalence and placebo tests further validate the model specification.
Doan, N. and Nguyen, C. (2026) The Kyoto Protocol and Forests: Implications for Sustainable Development 19 (145) European Journal of Forest Research.
Read the full paper here: The Kyoto Protocol and Forests: Implications for Sustainable Development I European Journal of Forest Research.
Zero Deforestation Commitments and Industry 4.0 Enabling Technologies: An Analysis of Their Role in Mitigating Deforestation
Abstract
This study examines the role of corporate zero-deforestation commitments (ZDCs) and Industry 4.0 (I4.0) enabling technologies in mitigating deforestation. Drawing on data from 110 companies included in the Forest 500 dataset, the research explores whether sustainability commitments and digital innovation influence firms’ deforestation performance. Building on the performative view of sustainability communication and the Technology–Organization–Environment framework, the study develops and tests hypotheses linking ZDCs, I4.0 adoption, and deforestation scores. Regression analyses show that both ZDCs and I4.0 technologies are individually associated with higher deforestation scores, suggesting that firms’ symbolic “talk” can translate into substantive “walk” and that digital tools support monitoring and traceability. However, the interaction between ZDCs and I4.0 adoption does not yield significant effects, indicating that their combination does not automatically reinforce outcomes.
Beretta, V. et al. (2026) Zero Deforestation Commitments and Industry 4.0 Enabling Technologies: An Analysis of Their Role in Mitigating Deforestation 0(0) Business Strategy and the Environment.
Read the full paper here: Zero Deforestation Commitments and Industry 4.0 Enabling Technologies: An Analysis of Their Role in Mitigating Deforestation I Business Strategy and the Environment.
Country-specific CO2 Management Drives EU Carbon Neutrality with Minimal System Cost Increases
Abstract
The European Union aims for climate neutrality by 2050. In practice, however, much of the governance and strategic implementation remains the responsibility of individual member states. Although efforts have been made to compare the effectiveness of decarbonizing Europe under a unified continental target versus country-specific goals, the resulting differences in costs between these two carbon management routes and the implications for technology deployment across the modeled countries remain unclear. Using PyPSA-Eur, a highly resolved open model of the European sector-coupled energy system, we find that enforcing national CO2 targets increases costs by only 1.4% while triggering higher investment in direct air capture and renewable capacities. We also find that a CO2 transport network is essential for both routes, serving as the primary mechanism for cross-border exchange of captured CO2. Our study provides new evidence and insights into the design of effective carbon management strategies in Europe.
Fernandes, R. et al. (2026) Country-specific CO2 Management Drives EU Carbon Neutrality with Minimal System Cost Increases 9 (1) One Earth.
Read the full paper here: Country-specific CO2 Management Drives EU Carbon Neutrality with Minimal System Cost Increases I One Earth.