BECCS in South Korea—Analyzing the negative emissions potential of bioenergy as a mitigation tool

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyze the in situ BECCS capacity for green-field bioenergy plants in South Korea. The technical assessment is used to support a policy discussion on the suitability of BECCS as a mitigation tool. We examined the technical potential of bioenergy production from domestic forest biomass. In a first step, the biophysical global forestry model (G4M) was applied to estimate biomass availability. In a second step, the results from G4M were used as input data to the engineering model BeWhere, which optimizes scaling and location of combined heat and power plants (CHP). The geographically explicit locations and capacities obtained for forest-based bioenergy plants were then overlaid with a geological suitability map for carbon storage. From this, a theoretical potential for in situ BECCS was derived. Results indicate that, given the abundant forest cover in South Korea, there is substantial potential for bioenergy production, which could contribute not only to substituting emissions from fossil fuels but also to meeting the targets of the country's commitments under any climate change mitigation agreement. However, there seems to be only limited potential for direct in situ carbon storage in South Korea.