Sustainable irrigation is a major constraint on global BECCS potential

Jul, 2021 - By WMR

Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage, is a negative emission technology that has been deemed necessary to meet the climate target, the impact of irrigation on water consumption sustainability remains largely unexplored.

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage is a technique that extracts bioenergy from biomass before capturing and storing carbon in a geological reservoir. Because biomass is created by plants through photosynthesis, it is a negative emission technology because it can absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In several past analyses, large-scale deployment of BECCS was thought to be important in achieving the 2 degree centigrade climate objective. However, this has raised concerns about the issues that bioenergy crops pose to water and land resources. Large-scale deployment of Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage was believed to be vital in meeting the climate goal in various previous studies. However, this has sparked worries about bioenergy crops' impact on water and land resources. In this context, where and to what extent irrigation can improve global Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage potential under sustainable water usage is unknown.

Water use that secures local and downstream water availability for conventional water use and environmental flow requirements, suppresses non-renewable water resource depletion, and prevents increased water stress, according to the researchers.

The research was based on simulations in an internally consistent model framework that included a spatially explicit depiction of bioenergy crop plantations and the water cycle.

To measure the requirements of water system water assets, the scientists made three diverse water system situations (limitless water system, practical water system, and no water system) with bioenergy crops planted ashore situations with severe land insurances to keep away from adverse consequences on biodiversity, food creation, land corruption, and desertification brought about by huge scope land transformation.

Given the numerous negative environmental effects of large-scale Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage deployment, the researchers propose that comprehensive assessments of the Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage potential, that consider both potential benefits and adverse effects, are required for achieving multiple sustainable development goals on climate, water, land, and other issues.