The world's first Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) pilot project has begun its carbon capture mission at Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire, UK.
The demonstration plant is using innovative technology that was developed by Leeds-based clean energy technology company C-Capture and is set to capture a tonne of CO² daily for the pilot's duration. This is the first time CO² has been captured from 100% biomass feedstock combustion.
If the BECCS is successful and can be scaled up to deliver negative emissions, Drax Power Station would be helping to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere whilst simultaneously producing energy.
Image: drax
Data about the CO² capture process will be continuously collected throughout the pilot scheme in order to understand better the potential of the new technology and how it could be upscaled at Drax. Part of this will include identifying and developing ways to store and use the carbon dioxide being captured
Drax has invested £400,000 in the pilot, which could be the first of several projects undertaken at the power station to deliver a rapid, lower cost demonstration of BECCS.
The UK government's Clean Growth Strategy has identified BECCS as one of the greenhouse gas removal technologies that could contribute towards removal of emissions from the atmosphere and achieve long-term decarbonisation.
By upgrading two-thirds of its generating units to use biomass instead of coal, Drax became Europe's largest decarbonisation project. As part of the BECCS pilot, it will examine options for similar re-purposing of existing infrastructure to deliver more carbon savings.
Critics of BECCS have said that the project would require vast amounts of land to produce the crops for the biomass, which then drastically reduces the positive impact of the capture and storage of the emissions.
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