Below zero – Responsible and adaptive realization of sociotechnical bioenergy systems with carbon capture and storge

Inadequate global emissions reductions have raised the status of carbon dioxide removal in climate diplomacy.

Whereas bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) feature prominently in these deliberations, deployment is close to non-existent.

Taking the implementation gap as a departure point, this project seeks to improve the understanding of socio-technical barriers to BECCS at different levels of governance: the EU, in Sweden and in management of businesses.

The project draws on an interdisciplinary mix of methods and perspectives to addresses three themes: 1) techno-economic assessment of CO2 capture technology and path dependencies; 2) controversies around sustainable biomass supply; and 3) financing.

A transdisciplinary modus operandi and new partnership between social scientists at Linköping University and engineers at Chalmers promises to deliver timely and impactful research on how society can build robust and adaptive capacity to respond to BECCS deployment barriers.