University of Wyoming researchers show BECCS combines with biomass co-fired with coal key shift

In Wyoming, the most direct route to carbon-negative electricity may lie in smokestacks we have already built. A sweeping review by researchers from the University of Wyoming published in the Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts argues that retrofitting relatively young coal plants to co-fire biomass and capture up to 99 % of resulting CO2 could eliminate 1.6 billion tonnes of emissions annually by 2040, sparing nations the economic shock of early coal retirements.

Drawing on the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scenarios, the study calculates that bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) could deliver between 30 and 780 gigatonnes of cumulative CO2 removal this century—enough, at the high end, to offset more than two decades of current global energy emissions. Unlike emerging direct-air-capture machines, BECCS generates dispatchable power while it cleans the atmosphere, providing the firm capacity that weather-dependent renewables still struggle to guarantee.

The review identifies three pivotal niches for BECCS: deep decarbonisation of power and heavy industry, life-extension of “locked-in” coal fleets, and flexible, negative-emission backup for grids dominated by wind and solar. Case studies from China show that less-than-15-year-old coal units, if converted to 50 % biomass co-firing and fitted with advanced CCS, could slash national power-sector emissions 41 gigatonnes cumulatively between 2050 and 2060.