Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage is one of the few carbon removal methods already operating at industrial scale, and it is attracting some of the largest removal contracts in the market. It is also one of the most debated, because its climate benefit depends on where the biomass comes from.
BECCS captures the CO2 released when biomass is burned or processed and stores it underground, removing CO2 that plants first took from the air. This article explains how it works, why it counts as a durable removal, who is buying it, what the EU proposes and which questions decide whether a BECCS credit is credible.
How BECCS works
Biomass grows and absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere: forestry residues, straw, wood chips, or the organic part of waste.
It is used in a power or heat plant, a pulp mill, an ethanol plant or a waste-to-energy plant, releasing that biogenic CO2.
The CO2 is captured from the flue gas or process stream.
It is transported and stored in a deep geological formation, where it stays for thousands of years.
Because the CO2 came from the atmosphere via the plants and ends up underground, the chain can be carbon-negative. Each tonne stored, minus the emissions of the whole chain, becomes a removal credit.
Why BECCS counts as durable removal
Geological storage keeps CO2 out of the atmosphere for millennia, so BECCS counts as a long-lived removal under SBTi’s Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0, alongside direct air capture with storage and other mineral or geological methods (carbon dioxide removal explained). That makes it relevant for the growing long-lived share of SBTi’s removal requirement from 2035 (SBTi carbon removal requirements).
BECCS is also one of the main sources of novel removal today: the State of Carbon Dioxide Removal report (June 2026) found that biochar and BECCS account for almost all of it. The ICVCM has approved biogenic carbon capture and storage methodologies for the CCP label (Core Carbon Principles explained).
Who is building and buying BECCS
BECCS projects are large and few. In Denmark, Ørsted’s Kalundborg CO2 Hub was planned to capture about 430,000 tonnes of biogenic CO2 a year from two biomass plants from early 2026 and ship it to the Northern Lights storage site in the Norwegian North Sea; Microsoft contracted 3.67 million tonnes of removals from it over ten years (ESG Today). Similar projects are under development at Nordic energy and pulp plants.
For a mid-market company, that structure matters. Most BECCS volume is sold in multi-year offtakes to very large buyers, and smaller volumes reach the market through registries such as Puro.earth and Isometric or through aggregated portfolios (offtake agreements).
The EU is becoming a buyer too. Its EU ETS review proposal of 17 July 2026 would add 250 million allowances between 2031 and 2040, with the revenue used to buy CRCF-certified BioCCS and direct air capture removals (EU ETS explained). It is a proposal, but it signals strong long-term public demand for exactly this kind of removal.
The catch: biomass sourcing
BECCS is only as negative as its biomass is sustainable. Three questions decide that:
Where does the biomass come from? Residues and waste (straw, sawmill residues, the organic share of municipal waste) carry far less risk than whole trees harvested for energy.
What would have happened to it otherwise? If the biomass would have decomposed anyway, using it and storing the CO2 is a clear gain. If forests are cut faster to supply the plant, the forest carbon loss can cancel the benefit for decades.
Are all chain emissions counted? Harvesting, transport (sometimes across oceans), drying, capture energy and CO2 shipping all emit. Credible methodologies deduct them and require monitoring of the storage site.
Tip from Bernard de Wit, Founder of Regreener: “For a BECCS credit, ask for the biomass sourcing report and the life-cycle calculation before you look at the price. Residues from a pulp mill or waste plant are an easy case. Pellets shipped across an ocean from forests cut for the purpose are not, however good the storage is.”
Where BECCS fits in a portfolio
BECCS suits companies that need long-lived removals and want large, measurable volumes, often through long contracts. It brings few local co-benefits, so many buyers combine it with nature-based projects for impact on the ground (nature-based vs technology-based credits). For current reference prices across removal types, see carbon removal credit prices.
“BECCS is the removal method where the engineering is easiest to verify and the biology is hardest. The storage part is close to certain. The biomass part is where we spend our due diligence.”
Bernard de Wit, Founder of Regreener
Looking for durable removals?
See the durable removal projects in our portfolio and how they fit next to nature-based credits.
