EU grows emphasis on DACCS and BECCS to hit climate goals

The European Commission is to encourage reliance on carbon removal technologies – particularly bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS) to help meet revised climate targets.

The EU 2040 climate target now proposes 90% net greenhouse gas emissions reductions, compared with 1990 levels, building on the existing legally binding goal of reducing net emissions by at least 55% by 2030. It said the move aimed to provide certainty to industry and investors.

The Commission’s proposal includes the possibility of a “limited use of high-quality international carbon credits” from partner countries with targets and climate action that aligns with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

“International credits must come from credible and transformative activities, such as DACCS and BECCS in partner countries whose climate targets and action align with the Paris Agreement temperature goal,” it said.

It proposes, from 2036, a limited contribution of 3% of 1990 EU net emissions can be used towards the EU 2040 target. “With this addition, the EU aims to strike the right balance between domestic action and international cooperation,” it said.

Nature-based and industrial carbon removals will play an increasingly important role in reaching net emissions targets including domestic permanent carbon removals in the EU ETS to compensate for residual emissions from hard-to-abate sectors.

Scaling up DACCS between 2030 and 2040 will require substantial near-term investment, however, with costs to reach 40 Mt CO2 removals by 2040 estimated at €12bn to €24bn, depending on future cost reductions, according to the European Parliament.

Industrial-scale deployment also depends on expanding carbon dioxide transport infrastructure, which would cost between €9bn and €23bn by 2050, and rapidly increasing geological storage capacity beyond the 50 Mt target for 2030 to reach 250 Mt/year by 2040–2050, covering fossil CCS, BECCS, and DACCS needs.

Rachel Kennerley, the Center for International Environmental Law’s international carbon capture campaigner, said relying on carbon removal technologies was a “dangerous misstep”.

“This gamble on speculative, expensive, and risky removal technologies only distracts further from real climate action. In fact, courts are increasingly ruling that governments and companies should not rely on carbon offsets or unproven technologies to fulfil climate obligations,” she said.