Tag: FAQs (frequently asked questions)

What is the carbon cycle?

25 March 2022

Carbon capture

What is the carbon cycle?

All living things contain carbon and the carbon cycle is the process through which the element continuously moves from one place in nature to another. Most carbon is stored in rock and sediment, but it’s also found in soil, oceans, and the atmosphere, and is produced by all living organisms – including plants, animals, and humans.

Carbon atoms move between the atmosphere and various storage locations, also known as reservoirs, on Earth. They do this through mechanisms such as photosynthesis, the decomposition and respiration of living organisms, and the eruption of volcanoes.

As our planet is a closed system, the overall amount of carbon doesn’t change. However, the level of carbon stored in a particular reservoir, including the atmosphere, can and does change, as does the speed at which carbon moves from one reservoir to another.

What is the role of photosynthesis in the carbon cycle?

Carbon exists in many different forms, including the colourless and odourless gas that is carbon dioxide (CO2). During photosynthesis, plants absorb light energy from the sun, water through their roots, and CO2 from the air – converting them into oxygen and glucose.

The oxygen is then released back into the air, while the carbon is stored in glucose, and used for energy by the plant to feed its stem, branches, leaves, and roots. Plants also release CO2 into the atmosphere through respiration.

Animals – including humans – who consume plants similarly digest the glucose for energy purposes. The cells in the human body then break down the glucose, with CO2 emitted as a waste product as we exhale.

CO2 is also produced when plants and animals die and are broken down by organisms such as fungi and bacteria during decomposition.

What is the fast carbon cycle?

The natural process of plants and animals releasing CO2 into the atmosphere through respiration and decomposition and plants absorbing it via photosynthesis is known as the biogenic carbon cycle. Biogenic refers to something that is produced by or originates from a living organism. This cycle also incorporates CO2 absorbed and released by the world’s oceans.

The biogenic carbon cycle is also called the “fast” carbon cycle, as the carbon that circulates through it does so comparatively quickly. There are nevertheless substantial variations within this faster cycle. Reservoir turnover times – a measure of how long the carbon remains in one location – range from years for the atmosphere to decades through to millennia for major carbon sinks on land and in the ocean.

What is the slow carbon cycle?

In some circumstances, plant and animal remains can become fossilised. This process, which takes millions of years, eventually leads to the formation of fossil fuels. Coal comes from the remains of plants that have been transformed into sedimentary rock. And we get crude oil and natural gas from plankton that once fell to the ocean floor and was, over time, buried by sediment.

The rocks and sedimentary layers where coal, crude oil, and natural gas are found form part of what is known as the geological or slow carbon cycle. From this cycle, carbon is returned to the atmosphere through, for example, volcanic eruptions and the weathering of rocks. In the slow carbon cycle, reservoir turnover times exceed 10,000 years and can stretch to millions of years.

How do humans impact the carbon cycle?

Left to its own devices, Earth can keep CO2 levels balanced, with similar amounts of CO2 released into and absorbed from the air. Carbon stored in rocks and sediment would slowly be emitted over a long period of time. However, human activity has upset this natural equilibrium.

Burning fossil fuel releases carbon that’s been sequestered in geological formations for millions of years, transferring it from the slow to the fast (biogenic) carbon cycle. This influx of fossil carbon leads to excessive levels of atmospheric CO2, that the biogenic carbon cycle can’t cope with.

As a greenhouse gas that traps heat from the sun between the Earth and its atmosphere, CO2 is essential to human existence. Without CO2 and other greenhouse gases, the planet could become too cold to sustain life.

However, the drastic increase in atmospheric CO2 due to human activity means that too much heat is now retained between Earth and the atmosphere. This has led to a continued rise in the average global temperature, a development that is part of climate change.

Where does biomass fit into the carbon cycle?

One way to help reduce fossil carbon is to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy, including sustainably sourced biomass. Feedstock for biomass energy includes plant material, wood, and forest residue – organic matter that absorbs CO2 as part of the biogenic carbon cycle. When the biomass is combusted in energy or electricity generation, the biogenic carbon stored in the organic matter is released back into the atmosphere as CO2.

This is distinctly different from the fossil carbon released by oil, gas, and coal. The addition of carbon capture and storage to bioenergy – creating BECCS – means the biogenic carbon absorbed by the organic matter is captured and sequestered, permanently removing it from the atmosphere. By capturing CO2 and transporting it to geological formations – such as porous rocks – for permanent storage, BECCS moves CO2 from the fast to the slow carbon cycle.

This is the opposite of burning fossil fuels, which takes carbon out of geological formations (the slow carbon cycle) and emits it into the atmosphere (the fast carbon cycle). Because BECCS removes more carbon than it emits, it delivers negative emissions.

Fast facts

  • According to a 2019 study, human activity including the burning of fossil fuels releases between 40 and 100 times more carbon every year than all volcanic eruptions around the world.
  • In March 2021, the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii reported that average CO2 in the atmosphere for that month was 14 parts per million. This was 50% higher than at the time of the Industrial Revolution (1750-1800).
  • There is an estimated 85 billion gigatonne (Gt) of carbon stored below the surface of the Earth. In comparison, just 43,500 Gt is stored on land, in oceans, and in the atmosphere.
  • Forests around the world are vital carbon sinks, absorbing around 7.6 million tonnes of CO2 every year.

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What is bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS)?

18 May 2021

Carbon capture

What is bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS)? 

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is the process of capturing and permanently storing carbon dioxide (CO2) from biomass (organic matter) energy generation.

Why is BECCS important for decarbonisation? 

When sustainable bioenergy is paired with carbon capture and storage it becomes a source of negative emissions, as CO2 is permanently removed from the carbon cycle.

Experts believe that negative emissions technologies (NETs) are crucial to helping countries meet the long-term goals set out in the Paris Climate Agreement. As BECCS is the most scalable of these technologies this decade, it has a key role to play in combating climate change.

How is the bioenergy for BECCS generated?

Most bioenergy is produced by combusting biomass as a fuel in boilers or furnaces to produce high-pressure steam that drives electricity-generating turbines. Alternatively, bioenergy generation can use a wide range of organic materials, including crops specifically planted and grown for the purpose, as well as residues from agriculture, forestry and wood products industries. Energy-dense forms of biomass, such as compressed wood pellets, enable bioenergy to be generated on a much larger scale. Fuels like wood pellets can also be used as a substitute for coal in existing power stations.

How is the carbon captured?

BECCS uses a post-combustion carbon capture process, where solvents isolate CO2 from the flue gases produced when the biomass is combusted. The captured CO2 is pressurised and turned into a liquid-like substance so it can then be transported by pipeline.

How is the carbon stored?

Captured CO2 can be safely and permanently injected into naturally occurring porous rock formations, for example unused natural gas reservoirs, coal beds that can’t be mined, or saline aquifers (water permeable rocks saturated with salt water). This process is known as sequestration.

Over time, the sequestered CO2 may react with the minerals, locking it chemically into the surrounding rock through a process called mineral storage.

BECCS fast facts

Is BECCS sustainable?

 Bioenergy can be generated from a range of biomass sources ranging from agricultural by-products to forestry residues to organic municipal waste. During their lifetime plants absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, this balances out the CO2that is released when the biomass is combusted.

What’s crucial is that the biomass is sustainably sourced, be it from agriculture or forest waste. Responsibly managed sources of biomass are those which naturally regenerate or are replanted and regrown, where there’s a increase of carbon stored in the land and where the natural environment is protected from harm.

Biomass wood pellets used as bioenergy in the UK, for example, are only sustainable when the forests they are sourced from continue to grow. Sourcing decisions must be based on science and not adversely affect the long-term potential of forests to store and sequester carbon.

Biomass pellets can also create a sustainable market for forestry products, which serves to encourage reforestation and afforestation – leading to even more CO2 being absorbed from the atmosphere.

Go deeper:

  • The triple benefits for the environment and economy of deploying BECCS in the UK.
  • How BECCS can offer essential grid stability as the electricity system moves to low- and zero-carbon sources.
  • Producing biomass from sustainable forests is key to ensuring BECCS can deliver negative emissions.
  • 5 innovative projects where carbon capture is already underway around the world
  • 7 places on the path to negative emissions through BECCS

What is a biomass wood pellet?

22 January 2021

Sustainable bioenergy

However, by compressing organic matter like wood, forest residues and sawdust into energy-dense pellets, biomass can be used for heating or renewable bioenergy generation at a much greater scale.

Why are pellets powerful?

The advantage of using biomass in the form of a pellet is its energy density. This refers to the amount of energy that can be stored in a given amount of a material.

On their own the wood and residues like wood chips and sawdust that make up biomass do not have a high energy density. A kilogram of wood, for example, stores little energy, compared to fuels like coal, diesel or uranium.

However, by compressing forest industry residues into a pellet, biomass becomes significantly more energy dense. Wood pellets can also have very low moisture content, giving them a high combustion efficiency – an important feature in power generation.

How are biomass pellets made?

Biomass pellets are made at a pelletisation plant. Here wood that is unsuitable for other industries like sawmill residues, are brought together.

The wood is chipped, screened for quality, heated to reduce its moisture content to below 12% and then converted into a fine powder. This is then pressed through a grate at high pressure to form the solid, short, dense biomass pellet.

How are pellets used in power generation?

Biomass pellets can be used to generate power in a similar way to coal, allowing existing coal power stations to be transformed to use renewable bioenergy instead.

A conveyor system takes pellets from storage through to pulverising mills, where they are crushed into a fine powder that is then blown into the power station’s boiler. Here the biomass is combusted as fuel, the heat from this combustion is used to make steam which powers the generators that produce electricity.

Biomass pellets’ density and uniform shape also makes them easier to transport and store in large quantities. However, it is essential that they are kept dry while in transit and that when stored in biomass domes the atmospheric conditions are carefully monitored and controlled to prevent unwanted combustion.

Biomass pellet facts

Are biomass pellets renewable? 

When forests are sustainably managed, and trees naturally regenerated or replanted and regrown in a human timeframe, it makes the biomass pellets sourced from them renewable.

It’s vital for the long-term energy generation that biomass pellets are sourced from responsibly managed forests and other industries that protect the environment and do not contribute to deforestation. Sourcing decisions must be science-based and not adversely affect the long-term potential of forests to store and sequester carbon.

Sustainable wood pellets are considered to be carbon neutral at the point of combustion. As they grow, forests absorb carbon from the atmosphere. When a biomass pellet is combusted, the same amount of atmospheric CO2 is released. The overall amount of CO2 in the atmosphere remains neutral, unlike with fossil fuels which release ancient carbon that has long fallen out of the natural carbon cycle.

Because sustainable bioenergy is low carbon when its lifecycle emissions, including supply chain CO2, are factored in, it is possible to turn it into a source of negative emissions, with the addition of carbon capture technology.

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What is renewable energy?

17 December 2020

Sustainable bioenergy

These differ to non-renewable energy sources such as coal, oil and natural gas, of which there is a finite amount available on Earth, meaning if used excessively they could eventually run out.

Renewable resources can provide energy for a variety of applications, including electricity generation, transportation and heating or cooling.

The difference between low-carbon, carbon neutral and renewable energy

Renewables such as wind, solar and hydropower are zero carbon sources of energy because they do not produce any carbon dioxide (CO2) when they generate power. Low-carbon sources might produce someCO2, but much less than fuels like coal.

Bioenergy that uses woody biomass from sustainably managed forests to generate electricity is carbon neutral because forests absorb CO2 from the atmosphere as they grow, meaning the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere remains level. Supply chains that bring bioenergy to power stations commonly use some fossil fuels in manufacturing and transportation. Therefore woody biomass is a low carbon fuel, when its whole lifecycle is considered.

Managing forests in a sustainable way that does not lead to deforestation allows bioenergy to serve as a renewable source of power. Responsible biomass sourcing also helps forests to absorb more carbon while displacing fossil fuel-based energy generation.

Nuclear is an example of a zero carbon source of electricity that is not renewable. It does not produce CO2,but it is dependent on uranium or plutonium, of which there is a finite amount available.

Managing forests in a sustainable way that does not lead to deforestation allows bioenergy to serve as a renewable source of power.

How much renewable energy is used around the world?

Humans have harnessed renewable energy for millions of years in the form of woody biomass to fuel fires, as well as wind to power ships and geothermal hot springs for bathing. Water wheels and windmills are other examples of humans utilising renewable resources, but since the industrial revolution fossil fuels, coal in particular, have been the main source of power.

However, as the effects of air pollution and CO2 produced from burning fossil fuels become increasingly apparent, renewable energy is gradually replacing sources which contribute to climate change.

In the year 2000 renewable energy accounted for 18% of global electricity generation, according to the IEA. By 2019, renewable sources made up 27% of the world’s electrical power.

Why renewable energy is essential to tackling climate change

The single biggest human contribution to climate change is greenhouse gas emissions, such as CO2, into the atmosphere. They create an insulating layer around the planet that causes temperatures on Earth to increase, making it less habitable.

Renewable sources of electricity can help to meet the world’s demand for power without contributing to global warming, unlike carbon-intensive fuels like coal, gas and oil.

Bioenergy can also be used to remove CO2 from the atmosphere while delivering renewable electricity through a process called bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).

Forests absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, then when the biomass is used to generate electricity the same CO2 is captured and stored permanently underground – reducing the overall amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

Humans have used renewable energy for millions for years, from wood for fires to wind powering boats to geothermal hot springs. 

What’s holding renewables back?

The world’s energy systems were built with fossil fuels in mind. This can make converting national grids difficult and installing new renewable energy sources expensive. However, as knowledge grows about how best to manufacture, build and operate renewable systems, the cost of deploying them at scale drops.

There are future changes needed. Renewables such as wind, solar and tidal power are known as intermittent renewables because they can’t generate electricity when there is no sun, wind or the tidal movement. For future energy systems to deliver enough power, large scale energy storage, as well as other flexible, reliable forms of generation will also be needed to meet demand and keep systems stable.

Renewable energy key facts:  

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What is biomass?

21 August 2020

Sustainable bioenergy
Illustration of a working forest supplying biomass

What is biomass?

In ecological terms, biomass refers to any type of organic matter. When it comes to energy, biomass is any organic matter that can be used to generate energy, for example wood, forest residues or plant materials.

How is biomass used?  

Biomass used and combusted for energy can come in a number of different forms, ranging from compressed wood pellets – which are used in power stations that have upgraded from coal – to biogas and biofuels, a liquid fuel that can be used to replace fossil fuels in transport.

The term biomass also refers to any type of organic material used for energy in domestic settings, for example wood burned in wood stoves and wood pellets used in domestic biomass boilers.

Biomass is organic matter like wood, forest residues or plant material, that is used to generate energy.

Where does biomass come from?

Biomass can be produced from different sources including agricultural or forestry residues, dedicated energy crops or waste products such as uneaten food.

Drax Power Station uses compressed wood pellets sourced from sustainably managed working forests in the US, Canada, Europe and Brazil, and are largely made up of low-grade wood produced as a byproduct of the production and processing of higher value wood products, like lumber and furniture.

Biomass producers and users must meet a range of stringent measures for their biomass to be certified as sustainable and responsibly sourced.

Key biomass facts

Is biomass renewable?

 Biomass grown through sustainable means is classified as a renewable source of energy because of the process of its growth. As biomass comes from organic, living matter, it grows naturally, absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere in the process.

It means when biomass is combusted as a source of energy – for example for heat or electricity production – the CO2 released is offset by the amount of CO2 it absorbed from the atmosphere while it was growing.

Fast facts

  • In 2019 biomass accounted for 6% of Great Britain’s electricity generation, more than 1/6 of the total generation of all renewable sources
  • There is about 550 gigatonnes of biomass carbon on Earth in total. Humans make up around 1/10,000th of that mass.
  • Modern biomass was first developed as an alternative for oil after its price spiked as a result of the 1973 Yom Kippur War
  • The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates bioenergy accounts for roughly 1/10th of the world’s total energy supply

Biomass is a renewable, sustainable form of energy used around the world.

How long has biomass been used as a source of energy?

Biomass has been used as a source of energy for as long as humans have been creating fire. Early humans using wood, plants or animal dung to make fire were all creating biomass energy.

Today biomass in the form of wood and wood products remains a widely used energy source for many countries around the world – both for domestic consumption and at grid scale through power stations, where it’s often used to replace fossil fuels with much higher lifecycle carbon emissions.

Drax Power Station has been using compressed wood pellets (a form of biomass) since 2003, when it began research and development work co-firing it with coal. It fully converted its first full generating unit to run only on compressed wood pellets in 2013, lowering the carbon footprint of the electricity it produced by more than 80% across the renewable fuel’s lifecycle. Today the power station runs mostly on sustainable biomass.

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Read next: What is reforestation and afforestation?

What is climate change?

Sustainable business
Climate change

What is climate change?

Climate change refers to the change in weather patterns and global temperature of the earth over long periods of time. In a modern context, climate change describes the rise of global temperatures that has been occurring since the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s.

What causes climate change?

While there have been natural fluctuations in the earth’s climate over previous millennia, scientists have found that current-day temperatures are rising quicker than ever due to the excessive amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gasses being released into the atmosphere.

Key climate crisis facts

An excess of CO2 in the atmosphere accentuates something called the ‘greenhouse effect’. As CO2 traps heat in the earth’s atmosphere, it warms the planet and causes a rise in average global temperature. International efforts, such as the Paris Climate Accords, are dedicated to ensuring temperatures do not rise 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, which could lead to catastrophic conditions on the planet.

In the modern context, climate change describes the rise of global temperatures occurring since the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s.

How do humans contribute to climate change?  

Industries such as transport, agriculture, energy and manufacturing have traditionally relied on the use of coal, oil and other fossil fuels. These fuels, when combusted or used, emit large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, further advancing the greenhouse effect and contributing to climate change.

Human reliance and consumption of these products mean today CO2 levels are the highest they’ve been in 800,000 years.

Why are rising temperatures harmful to the planet?

Our planet has a history of experiencing periods of extreme weather conditions – for example the last Ice Age, which finished 12,000 years ago. However, the rapid rise in temperatures seen today is harmful because a hotter planet completely affects our natural environment.

A steep rise in global temperature can melt ice sheets and cause higher sea levels which can, in turn, contribute to more extreme storms and even threaten entire islands and coastal communities. As the planet warms, extreme weather events, such as bushfires could become more common, which can destroy homes, impact agriculture and degrade air quality, while entire ecosystems, habitats and animal and insect species could also be threatened by climate change. 

What can be done to mitigate the effects of climate change?

Reducing CO2 emissions is a key way of slowing down the pace of climate change. To do so, industries across the global economy must decarbonise to become less dependent on fossil fuels, such as coal and petrol, and adopt new lower carbon energy sources.

Decarbonisation will rely on a number of factors, including a technological response that sees the development and implementation of carbon neutral and carbon negative ways of creating heat, electricity and fuels, including the use of innovations such as carbon capture and storage (CCS).

There is also a need for a policy and governmental response that promotes investment in new cleaner technologies and disincentivises dirtier industries through mechanisms like the carbon tax. Countries and economies will need to work collaboratively to achieve common, climate-oriented goals that will also enable smaller scale action to be taken by individuals around the world. 

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What is reforestation and afforestation?

Sustainable bioenergy
Reforestation and afforestation

What is reforestation and afforestation?

Reforestation is the process of planting trees in a forest where the number of trees has been decreasing.

Afforestation is when new trees are planted or seeds are sown in an area where there were no trees before, creating a new forest.

Why carry out reforestation and afforestation?

Reforestation and afforestation are two of the leading nature-based solutions for tackling the effects of climate change. For commercial foresters and landowners, these two practices are essential to ensuring they can grow wood for wood products and continuously meet demand in a sustainable way.

Reforestation is crucial in combating or preventing deforestation or forest degradation, where forests shrink in size or are completely removed. As well as reducing a forest’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2), deforestation can destroy wildlife habitats and contribute to the likelihood of flooding in certain areas.

Afforestation can also help avoid desertification, where fertile land turns into a desert as a result of drought or intensive agriculture.

Reforestation is the process of planting native trees in a forest where the number of trees has been decreasing.

How does reforestation and afforestation limit the effects of climate change?

Forests are a natural way of keeping the earth’s CO2 levels in check. The more trees there are, the more CO2 is captured and converted into oxygen through photosynthesis.

By absorbing CO2, forests help to lower the amount of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere and reduce the effects of climate change.

Reforestation and afforestation help maximize these abilities of forests by increasing the overall amount of forested land on the planet.

Key forest facts

Did you know?

Different types of forests, such as tropical, swamps or mangroves, all absorb CO2 at different rates.

The age of a forest also impacts absorption. Young, rapidly growing, trees absorb CO2 at a faster rate than more mature ones, which have large amounts of carbon locked in already.

Afforestation is when new trees are planted or seeds are sown in an area where there were no trees before.

What roles does reforestation play in commercial forestry?

The global wood products industry depends on sustainable forests to supply the wood needed to make furniture, create construction materials and provide fuel for energy.

The supply chain will often start with what’s called a ‘working forest’ – a commercially-run forest which is often privately owned. The landowner will grow a working forest to a certain stage of maturity and then harvest some or all of the trees to sell the wood. Once the wood has been sold for use as lumber, wood products or fuel, the landowner will reforest the areas to regrow the trees.

Foresters will typically do this in stages across their land to ensure there are multiple stands of forest at different stages of growth across their land, which ensures there is consistent, sustainable growth at all times.

Fast facts

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