Big Tech’s big bet on a controversial carbon removal tactic

illuminem summarises for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on MIT Technology Review or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: Tech giants including Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, and JPMorgan Chase are investing heavily in bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), a controversial form of carbon removal
• These companies are funding retrofits at pulp mills and bioenergy facilities to capture carbon emissions and store them underground, with Microsoft alone purchasing over 10 million tons of carbon removal credits in recent months — mostly through BECCS-based projects

🔭 The context: BECCS combines bioenergy — derived from burning organic material like wood waste — with carbon capture and storage technologies
• It is one of the few carbon removal methods considered potentially scalable today, as it builds on existing industrial infrastructure
• BECCS now represents nearly 70% of announced carbon removal contracts, largely due to its lower cost and faster deployment compared to methods like direct air capture
• However, experts warn that many climate benefits attributed to BECCS are based on flawed assumptions and incomplete carbon accounting

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: If implemented responsibly, BECCS could play a meaningful role in global decarbonisation by removing CO₂ from the atmosphere
• But the method also poses significant environmental and ethical risks: encouraging deforestation, land-use change, and overharvesting of biomass
• Critics caution that corporate reliance on BECCS may delay deeper emissions cuts and lead to misleading climate claims if full life-cycle emissions aren't accurately tracked
• Waste-based BECCS offers more promise, but scaling it may still incentivize unsustainable biomass extraction

⏭️ What's next: Microsoft and its partners say they are conducting rigorous due diligence to ensure projects deliver genuine negative emissions
•  As BECCS expands beyond retrofits to new plant construction, scrutiny will grow
• Regulatory bodies may need to intervene to set clear standards on biomass sourcing, emissions accounting, and environmental impacts
• The credibility of corporate climate pledges may increasingly hinge on how transparently these BECCS projects are managed.

💬 One quote: “People think some magic happens—this magic combination of using biomass and CCS creates something bigger than its parts. But it’s not magic; it’s simply the sum of the two.” – Tim Searchinger, Princeton University

📈 One stat: BECCS now accounts for almost 70% of all announced carbon removal contracts globally, with average prices around $210 per ton — less than half the cost of direct air capture.

See on illuminem's Data Hub™ the sustainability performance of companies like Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, and JPMorgan Chase

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