Potential market niches for biomass energy with CO2 capture and storage - Opportunities for energy supply with negative CO2 emissions

The paper presents an analysis of biomass energy with CO2 capture and storage (BECS) in industrial applications. Sugar cane-based ethanol mills and chemical pulp mills are identified as market niches with promising prospects for BEGS. Calculations of CO2 balances of BECS in these applications show that the introduction of CO2 capture and storage in biomass energy systems can significantly increase the systems' CO2 abatement potentials. CO2 emissions of the total systems are negative. The CO2 reduction potentials of these technologies are discussed in regional and global contexts. An economic assessment of each system is carried out and opportunities for cost-effective technologies for CO2 capture, transportation and storage are identified. Furthermore, potentials for system improvements that could substantially decrease the CO2 abatement cost are addressed. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.