Carbon capture and storage, bio-energy with carbon capture and storage, and the escape from the fossil-fuel lock-in

Social Science Insights for the BioCCS Industry

“…It soon became apparent that little was known in the literature regarding public perceptions of bioCCS although several studies were identified focusing on bioenergy and/or biomass. In addition, a number of the articles that were located centered on the current debate into bioenergy with CCS (BECCS) (for example, see [13][14][15][16][17]). All bioenergy articles sourced were reviewed to develop a better understanding of the industry's existing public perception research.…”

“…It is considered a practical cost effective approach for reducing GHG emissions, across a wide range of biomass related technologies [71]. When included in a suite of mitigation options, bioCCS provides a glimpse of the possibility of decreasing overall atmospheric CO2 levels [15], and goes some way towards prevention of a 'lock-in' of fossil fuels as the primary source of power generation for future global energy needs [16,72]. These benefits may well be critical elements that can lead to the social acceptability of bioCCS [14].…”

Systems integration for global sustainability

“…For example, carbon footprints are driven in large part by past land use (23). A condition termed "carbon lock-in" has been used to describe systems that have evolved over long time frames to become dependent on fossil fuels (24,25). The fossil energy system is comprised of long-lived infrastructure such as power plants, which represent an investment in future CO 2 emissions.…”

Assessing Energy Security in a Low-Carbon Context: The Case of Electricity in the UK

“…The use of CCS technology would allow for the continued use of coal without the associated high emissions; however, CCS is very costly, and it reduces the efficiency of coal power plants which increases coal supply requirements (Diesendorf 2011;Froggatt 2013;Froggatt and Levi 2009;Johansson et al 2014). CCS is also being developed for gasfired generation; however, the issue is linked to longer-term risks of resource depletion, and some argue that CCS could potentially lock the energy system into using nonrenewable resources such as gas which may become depleted (Greenpeace 2008;Vergragt et al 2011). The use of unconventional fossil fuels could mitigate the issue of resource depletion; however, unconventional fuels such as shale gas and oil sands bring their own risks, such as increased emissions and various risks to human and environmental safety (see for example Shale Gas Information Platform 2015; Wykes and Heywood 2010).…”