Using wood twice — first as a longer-lasting product like particleboard, then as fuel in a power plant that captures and buries its carbon — is a far more powerful climate solution than burning wood directly for energy or leaving forests alone. What’s more, it offers the European Union a credible path to its legally binding 2050 net-zero targets. That is according to a new peer-reviewed Nature study led by the University of Galway in Ireland and researchers from IEA Bioenergy, published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment.
The study, run by Germany’s Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum (DBFZ) under the IEA Bioenergy ‘BECCUS’ project, pitted the cascading approach against two alternatives — burning woody residues directly for energy and leaving forests unmanaged. And the cascading-to-BECCS route outperformed both in long-term carbon removal.
Lead scientist Dr George Bishop, of the University of Galway, said the EU’s net-zero commitments could not be met on emissions cuts alone. “National climate neutrality targets cannot be met without large-scale carbon dioxide removal. Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) provides one of the few scalable ways to deliver permanent carbon removal while also producing renewable energy,” Dr Bishop said.
Because large-scale BECCS infrastructure will take decades to deploy, the researchers argue that woody residues should first be turned into long-lasting products, such as particleboard, that displace carbon-intensive plastics. That same material can then be combusted with carbon capture at the end of service, delivering permanent removal in addition to in-use carbon storage.
It comes as parallel research into biomass-to-removal pathways includes the US wood-vaulting work of Yiqi Luo and colleagues, and Dr Fabiano Ximenes’ dry-stacking research with Australian start-up Inter.Earth. Both approaches store woody residues in long-term reservoirs when higher-value uses are unavailable.
Newly planted trees in sustainably managed forests draw carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere while the manufactured products remain in service. That extends the carbon-sink function of working forests across multiple decades rather than a single harvest rotation.
Co-author Christiane Hennig, a scientist at the DBFZ, said the study sharpened understanding of the role BECCS plays in the wider bioeconomy. “The investigations and findings of this research help us understand the contribution that bioenergy, combined with carbon capture and storage as a carbon removal technology, can make to climate protection in conjunction with the use of biomass for a bioeconomy,” Ms Hennig said.
Fellow co-author David Styles, Professor of Agricultural Sustainability at the University of Galway, said governments could no longer treat circular wood use as optional. “The implication for policy is clear: to meet ambitious climate targets, governments must prioritise the development of permanent carbon dioxide capture and storage technologies and incentivise circular use of wood to prolong its lifespan as a carbon store,” Professor Styles said.
All 27 EU member states are legally bound under the European Climate Law to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with Professor Styles urging governments to prioritise permanent carbon capture alongside policies that keep harvested wood in service for decades before combustion.
For more information: Bishop, G., Duffy, C., Berndes, G. et al. Cascading wood use into bioenergy with carbon capture and storage ensures continuous and enduring temperature reduction. Commun Earth Environ 7, 233 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03333-1.
