Implications of Optimal BECCS Supply Chains on Absolute Sustainability

Abstract

Carbon dioxide removal technologies are expected to play a decisive role in meeting the target of 1.5 °C, yet their broad sustainability implications remain unclear. Among those, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) has attracted growing interest, as it can remove CO2 while providing energy. This study presents an optimization approach to design and evaluate BECCS supply chains based on absolute sustainability criteria. We analyze the solution to a minimum cost scenario removing 0.61 GtCO2 in the European Union, assessing the impacts with the Environmental Footprint method and interpreting the results using the planetary boundaries linked to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We find that BECCS could indeed be implemented within the safe operating space but would consume large amounts of global ecological shares due to burden-shifting on some categories.