Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) potential and impacts in Indonesia’s electricity sector decarbonization

In global scenarios of 2˚C and 1.5˚C warming, integrated assessment model (IAM) studies’ results demonstrated that bioenergy coupled with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) can help achieve net zero and net negative emissions within the course of this century by removing CO2 emissions from the atmosphere at scale while producing energy. However, the feasibility of BECCS depends on the availability of biomass resource, sizeable demand to cover, and access to long-term CO2 storage that differs from one region to another. Several studies have investigated the BECCS deployment scenarios at national levels. However, most studies have not addressed the implication of BECCS supply chain design in the context of long-term regional electricity system development, considering the regional disparity of energy resource, CO2 sources, and CO2 sinks. This study assessed the potential and impacts of BECCS development in Indonesia’s electricity sector net zero transition scenarios using capacity expansion model that incorporates grid expansion problem considering the regional disparities of resource and existing infrastructure. Model results have demonstrated the role of BECCS as “backstop” technology for decarbonization, considering the high return on emission reduction per dollar spent rather than electricity generation. Scenarios leading to large negative emissions from BECCS will require additional biomass resources larger than the existing domestic supply, which can risk increasing negative impacts toward natural resources and environment.