A brand new research has explored the battle traces of public debate round a controversial power know-how which is heralded as “critical to combating climate change” by its advocates and branded “worse than coal” by its critics.

“BE (BECCS) features heavily in the UK government’s plan to achieve a net-zero economy by 2050. But there is low public awareness of the technology, which has split the opinion of scientists, politicians, and media outlets.

BECCS generates energy by burning plants and trees and captures the resulting carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, storing them underground.

Now, research by the University of Southampton has analysed coverage of BECCS in 166 newspaper articles to identify the key storylines about the energy technology and understand whether it is likely to be accepted by people in the UK and beyond.

“With public understanding of BECCS so restricted, the media has an important position in shaping debate and opinion on the know-how,” says Caspar Donnison, Research Fellow in Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton and lead author of the research.

“We’ve seen within the fracking debate how competing storylines are used to affect social acceptance of a brand new know-how, and finally whether or not it turns into a part of the UK’s power combine or not.”

The research published in Energy Research & Social Science identified eight key storylines. On the Pro-BECCS side were Necessary mitigation tool; Keeping the lights on; Anchor for transition; and Revolutionary technology. On the Anti-BECCS side were Worse than coal; Environmental disaster; No silver bullet; and Distraction.

“Sustainable biomass” to “degree up the North”

The Necessary mitigation tool storyline was apparent in over half of the national and regional newspaper articles analysed. Drax Group has plans to operate the world’s largest BECCS facility at its power station in Yorkshire. Drax CEO Will Gardiner used this storyline more than any other individual. But it was also referenced by Government spokespeople, the UK Committee on Climate Change (CCC) and Microsoft, as well as being featured in IPCC scenarios. The Keeping the lights on storyline was less prevalent but gained traction following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Storylines focusing on opportunity (Anchor for transition and Revolutionary technology) were most prominent in Yorkshire’s local media. Local MPs referred to “closing the North-South divide” and Rishi Sunak MP described the Drax project as “transformative for the area’s economic system”, shortly before becoming Prime Minister.

“Drax’s proposals in Yorkshire have had a serious affect on the UK debate, driving extra articles from three regional newspapers than all of the nationwide protection mixed,” says Professor Gail Taylor, co-author of the paper and John B Orr Distinguished Professor of Environmental Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis. “The pro-BECCS coalition loved higher dominance in native information media, the place the need framing was complemented with the promise of socioeconomic advantages to the area.”

“Ecological catastrophe” and “magical pondering”

The Worse than coal storyline gained prominence following a BBC Panorama documentary on Drax’s supply chain and was featured in 34 articles – mostly in national newspapers. Environmental NGOs and others claim, with limited evidence, that biomass combustion results in similar CO₂ emissions to coal, that this carbon may not be re-absorbed by replanting trees and that supply-chain emissions add to the carbon cost. 32 articles framed BECCS as an Environmental disaster, suggesting the land-use demand posed a risk to wildlife and food production.

Countering the Revolutionary technology narrative, 23 national newspaper articles (17 in the Guardian) suggested BECCS was No silver bullet, describing it as “too good to be true” and “not possible” at the scale and timescale envisaged. A further 10 articles in the Guardian and Independent, largely attributed to NGOs, suggested it was a Distraction, acting as “a licence to maintain emitting.”

“The UK authorities is counting on BECCS to assist ship their net-zero technique however the battle for public opinion is much from received,” says Donnison. “Our analysis reveals a focused, restricted deployment of BECCS utilizing sustainably sourced biomass may have broad nationwide attraction. But if public considerations aren’t addressed, the federal government must look to a fast-diminishing listing of different technological and coverage choices.”

A net-zero storyline for success? News media analysis of the social legitimacy of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage in the United Kingdom is revealed in Energy Research & Social Science.