Continued growth in anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions necessitate the development of techniques and technologies, which enable deep reductions in future emissions from human activity. Modeling scenarios consistent with limiting planetary warming below 2 oC by the end of the century require large scale deployment of negative emission technologies (NETs) which remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is one NET widely assumed to provide necessary carbon removal while also providing energy. This study estimates the land, water, and energy impact of generating negative emissions via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis with pre-combustion carbon capture and storage (FT-CCS) using forest biomass from loblolly pine plantations under conditions typical in the southeastern United States. Forestry based FT-CCS was found to have a lower water footprint, provide less energy, and require much greater land use than alternative BECCS systems evaluated in previous estimates from the literature.
