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Biomass Energy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS)
Biomass Energy with Carbon Capture
and Storage (BECCS)

Unlocking Negative Emissions

Edited by

Clair Gough
University of Manchester, UK

Patricia Thornley
University of Manchester, UK

Sarah Mander
University of Manchester, UK

Naomi Vaughan
University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

Amanda Lea-Langton
University of Manchester, UK
This edition first published 2018
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Gough, Clair, editor. | Thornley, Patricia, editor. | Mander, Sarah,
editor. | Vaughan, Naomi, editor. | Lea-Langton, Amanda, editor.
Title: Biomass energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) : unlocking
negative emissions / edited by Clair Gough, Patricia Thornley, Sarah
Mander, Naomi Vaughan, Amanda Lea-Langton.
Description: First edition. | Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons, 2018. |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2018001038 (print) | LCCN 2018007091 (ebook) | ISBN
9781119237631 (pdf ) | ISBN 9781119237686 (epub) | ISBN 9781119237723
(cloth)
Subjects: LCSH: Carbon sequestration. | Biomass energy–Climatic factors. |
Climate change mitigation.
Classification: LCC SD387.C37 (ebook) | LCC SD387.C37 B555 2018 (print) | DDC
577/.144–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018001038

Cover design by Wiley

Cover images © Pobytov/Getty Images

Set in 10/12pt WarnockPro by SPi Global, Chennai, India

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
 v

Contents

List of Contributors xiii

Foreword xvii
Preface xix
List of Abbreviations/Acronyms xxi

Part I BECCS Technologies 1

1 Understanding Negative Emissions From BECCS 3

Clair Gough, Sarah Mander, Patricia Thornley, Amanda Lea‐Langton
and Naomi Vaughan
1.1 Introduction 3
1.2 Climate‐Change Mitigation 4
1.3 Negative Emissions Technologies 7
1.4 Why BECCS? 8
1.5 Structure of the Book 10
1.5.1 Part I: BECCS Technologies 10
1.5.2 Part II: BECCS System Assessments 12
1.5.3 Part III: BECCS in the Energy System 13
1.5.4 Part IV: Summary and Conclusions 14
References 14

2 The Supply of Biomass for Bioenergy Systems 17

Andrew Welfle and Raphael Slade
2.1 Introduction 17
2.2 Biomass Resource Demand 18
2.3 Resource Demand for BECCS Technologies 18
2.4 Forecasting the Availability of Biomass Resources 19
2.4.1 Modelling Non‐Renewable Resources 20
2.4.2 Modelling Renewable Resources 21
2.4.2.1 Biomass Resource Modelling 21
2.4.3 Modelling Approaches – Bottom‐Up versus Top‐Down 23
2.5 Methods for Forecasting the Availability of Energy Crop Resources 24
2.6 Forecasting the Availability of Wastes and Residues From Ongoing
Processes 25
vi Contents

2.7 Forecasting the Availability of Forestry Resources 26

2.8 Forecasting the Availability of Waste Resources 27
2.9 Biomass Resource Availability 28
2.10 Variability in Biomass Resource Forecasts 31
2.11 Biomass Supply and Demand Regions, and Key Trade Flows 33
2.11.1 Trade Hub Europe 33
2.11.2 Bioethanol – Key Global Trade Flows 34
2.11.3 Biodiesel – Key Global Trade Flows 34
2.11.4 Wood Pellets – Key Global Trade Flows 35
2.11.5 Wood Chip – Key Global Trade Flows 35
2.12 Global Biomass Trade Limitations and Uncertainty 36
2.12.1 Technical Barriers 36
2.12.2 Economic and Trade Barriers 36
2.12.3 Logistical Barriers 37
2.12.4 Regulatory Barriers 37
2.12.5 Geopolitical Barriers 38
2.13 Sustainability of Global Biomass Resource Production 38
2.13.1 Potential Land‐Use Change Impacts 38
2.13.2 The ‘Land for Food versus Land for Energy’ Question 39
2.13.3 Potential Social Impacts 39
2.13.4 Potential Ecosystem and Biodiversity Impacts 40
2.13.5 Potential Water Impacts 40
2.13.6 Potential Air‐Quality Impacts 41
2.14 Conclusions – Biomass Resource Potential and BECCS 41
References 42

3 Post‐combustion and Oxy‐combustion Technologies 47

Karen N. Finney, Hannah Chalmers, Mathieu Lucquiaud, Juan Riaza,
János Szuhánszki and Bill Buschle
3.1 Introduction 47
3.2 Air Firing with Post‐combustion Capture 48
3.2.1 Wet Scrubbing Technologies: Solvent‐Based Capture Using Chemical
Absorption 49
3.2.1.1 Amine‐Based Capture 50
3.2.1.2 Steam Extraction for Solvent Regeneration 51
3.2.2 Membrane Separation 51
3.2.3 Brief Overview of Other Separation Methods 52
3.3 Oxy‐Fuel Combustion 52
3.3.1 Oxy‐Combustion of Biomass Using Flue Gas Recirculation 53
3.3.2 Enriched‐Air Combustion 54
3.4 Challenges Associated with Biomass Utilisation Under BECCS Operating
Conditions 55
3.4.1 Impacts of Biomass Trace Elements on Post‐combustion Capture
Performance 55
3.4.1.1 Alkali Metals 55
3.4.1.2 Transition Metals 56
3.4.1.3 Acidic Elements 57
 Contents vii

3.4.1.4 Particulate Matter 57

3.4.1.5 Biomass‐Specific Solvents for Post‐combustion BECCS 57
3.4.2 Biomass Combustion Challenges for Oxy‐Fuel Capture 58
3.4.2.1 Fuel Milling 59
3.4.2.2 Flame Temperature 59
3.4.2.3 Heat Transfer 59
3.4.2.4 Particle Heating, Ignition and Flame Propagation 59
3.4.2.5 Burnout 60
3.4.2.6 Emissions 60
3.4.2.7 Corrosion 60
3.5 Summary and Conclusions: Synopsis of Technical Knowledge
and Assessment of Deployment Potential 61
References 63

4 Pre‐combustion Technologies 67
Amanda Lea‐Langton and Gordon Andrews
4.1 Introduction 67
4.2 The Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) 68
4.3 Gasification of Solid Fuels 69
4.4 Carbon Dioxide Separation Technologies 76
4.4.1 Physical Absorption 76
4.4.2 Adsorption Processes 77
4.4.3 Clathrate Hydrates 77
4.4.4 Membrane Technologies 77
4.4.5 Cryogenic Separation 78
4.4.6 Post‐combustion Chilled Ammonia 78
4.5 Chemical Looping Processes 78
4.6 Existing Schemes 79
4.7 Modelling of IGCC Plant Thermal Efficiency With and Without
Pre‐combustion CCS 80
4.8 Summary and Research Challenges 85
References 87

5 Techno‐economics of Biomass‐based Power Generation with CCS

Technologies for Deployment in 2050 93
Amit Bhave, Paul Fennell, Niall Mac Dowell, Nilay Shah and Richard H.S. Taylor
5.1 Introduction 94
5.2 Case Study Analysis 101
Acknowledgements 113
References 113

Part II BECCS System Assessments 115

6 Life Cycle Assessment 117

Temitope Falano and Patricia Thornley
6.1 Introduction 117
viii Contents

6.2 Rationale for Supply‐Chain Life‐Cycle Assessment 117

6.3 Variability in Life‐Cycle Assessment of Bioenergy Systems 120
6.3.1 Variability Related to Scope of System 120
6.3.1.1 Land‐Use Emissions 120
6.3.1.2 Land‐Use Change Emissions 121
6.3.1.3 Indirect Land‐Use Change Emissions 121
6.3.2 Variability Related to Methodology 122
6.3.3 Variability Related to System Definition 122
6.3.4 Variability Related to Assumptions 122
6.4 Published LCAs of BECCS 123
6.5 Sensitivity Analysis of Reported Carbon Savings to Key System
Parameters 124
6.5.1 Impact of CO2 Capture Efficiency 124
6.5.2 Variation of Energy Requirement Associated with CO2 Capture 125
6.5.3 Variation of Biomass Yield 125
6.6 Conclusions 125
References 126

7 System Characterisation of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Systems 129

Geoffrey P. Hammond
7.1 Introduction 129
7.1.1 Background 129
7.1.2 The Issues Considered 131
7.2 CCS Process Characterisation, Innovation and Deployment 131
7.2.1 CCS Process Characterisation 131
7.2.2 CCS Innovation and Deployment 133
7.3 CCS Options for the United Kingdom 135
7.4 The Sustainability Assessment Context 136
7.4.1.1 The Environmental Pillar 136
7.4.1.2 The Economic Pillar 137
7.4.1.3 The Social Pillar 137
7.5 CCS Performance Metrics 138
7.5.1 Energy Analysis and Metrics 138
7.5.2 Carbon Accounting and Related Parameters 139
7.5.3 Economic Appraisal and Indicators 140
7.6 CCS System Characterisation 141
7.6.1 CO2 Capture 141
7.6.1.1 Technical Exemplars 141
7.6.1.2 Energy Metrics 141
7.6.1.3 Carbon Emissions 142
7.6.1.4 Economic Indicators 145
7.6.2 CO2 Transport and Clustering 147
7.6.3 CO2 Storage 149
7.6.3.1 Storage Options and Capacities 149
7.6.3.2 Storage Site Risks, Environmental Impacts and Monitoring 150
7.6.3.3 Storage Economics 152
7.6.4 Whole CCS Chain Assessment 153
 Contents ix

7.7 Concluding Remarks 156

Acknowledgments 157
References 158

8 The System Value of Deploying Bioenergy with CCS (BECCS) in

the United Kingdom 163
Geraldine Newton‐Cross and Dennis Gammer
8.1 Background 163
8.1.1 Why BECCS? 163
8.1.2 Critical Knowledge Gaps 168
8.2 Context 168
8.2.1 Bioenergy 168
8.2.2 Bioenergy with CCS 169
8.3 Progressing our Understanding of the Key Uncertainties Associated
with BECCS 170
8.3.1 Can a Sufficient Level of BECCS Be Deployed in the United Kingdom to
Support Cost-Effective Decarbonisation Pathways for the United Kingdom
out to 2050? 170
8.3.2 What are the Right Combinations of Feedstock, Preprocessing, Conversion
and Carbon‐Capture Technologies to Deploy for Bioenergy Production
in the United Kingdom? 174
8.3.2.1 Optimising Feedstock Properties for Future Bioenergy Conversion
Technologies 174
8.3.2.2 BECCS Value Chains: What Carbon‐Capture Technologies Do we Need
to Develop? 175
8.3.3 How can we Deliver the Greatest Emissions Savings from Bioenergy
and BECCS in the United Kingdom? 176
8.3.4 How Much CO2 Could Be Stored from UK Sources and How Do
we Monitor These Stores Efficiently and Safely? 178
8.3.4.1 Storage Potential 178
8.3.4.2 Managing the Risks of Storage 178
8.4 Conclusion: Completing the BECCS Picture 180
8.4.1 Next Steps 180
References 181

Part III BECCS in the Energy System 185

9 The Climate‐Change Mitigation Challenge 187

Sarah Mander, Kevin Anderson, Alice Larkin, Clair Gough and Naomi Vaughan
9.1 Introduction 187
9.2 Cumulative Emissions and Atmospheric CO2 Concentration for 2 °C
Commitments 188
9.3 The Role of BECCS for Climate‐Change Mitigation – A Summary
of BECCS within Integrated Assessment Modelling 190
9.3.1 Key Assumptions 194
9.4 Implications and Consequences of BECCS 194
x Contents

9.5 Conclusions: Can BECCS Deliver what’s Expected of it? 199

References 200

10 The Future for Bioenergy Systems: The Role of BECCS? 205

Gabrial Anandarajah, Olivier Dessens and Will McDowall
10.1 Introduction 205
10.2 Methodology 206
10.2.1 TIAM‐UCL 206
10.2.2 Representation of Bioenergy and CCS Technologies in TIAM‐UCL 208
10.2.3 Scenario Definitions 209
10.3 Results and Discussions 211
10.3.1 2 °C Scenarios With and Without BECCS 211
10.3.2 Sensitivity Around Availability of Sustainable Bioenergy 215
10.3.3 1.5 °C Scenarios 221
10.4 Discussion and Conclusions 224
References 225

11 Policy Frameworks and Supply‐Chain Accounting 227

Patricia Thornley and Alison Mohr
11.1 Introduction 227
11.2 The Origin and Use of Supply‐Chain Analysis in Bioenergy Systems 228
11.2.1 Rationale for Systems‐Level Evaluation 228
11.2.2 Importance and Significance of Scope of System 230
11.2.3 Importance and Significance of Breadth of Analysis 231
11.3 Policy Options 232
11.3.1 Objectives of BECCS Policy 232
11.3.2 Review of Existing Policy Frameworks 234
11.3.2.1 International Policy Frameworks 234
11.3.2.1.1 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 234
11.3.2.1.2 EU Emissions Trading System 236
11.3.2.1.3 Renewable Energy Directive and Fuel Quality Directive 236
11.3.2.2 National Policy Frameworks in the United Kingdom 237
11.3.2.2.1 Renewables Obligation and Contracts for Difference 237
11.3.2.2.2 Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation 238
11.4 Ensuring Environmental, Economic and Social Sustainability of
a BECCS System 238
11.4.1 Environmental Sustainability and System Scope 238
11.4.2 Economic Sustainability and System Scope 240
11.4.3 Social Sustainability and System Scope 241
11.4.4 Trade‐Offs Between Different Sustainability Components 243
11.5 Governance of BECCS Systems 245
11.6 Conclusions: The Future of BECCS Policy and Governance 247
References 248
 Contents xi

12 Social and Ethical Dimensions of BECCS 251

Clair Gough, Leslie Mabon and Sarah Mander
12.1 Introduction 251
12.2 Fossil Fuels and BECCS 252
12.3 Alternative Approaches 254
12.3.1 Negative Emissions Approaches and CDR 254
12.3.2 Different Mitigation Approaches 256
12.4 Sustainable Decarbonisation 257
12.5 Societal Responses 258
12.6 Justice 262
12.6.1 Distributional Justice 262
12.6.2 Procedural Justice 263
12.6.3 Financial Justice 265
12.6.4 Intergenerational Justice 267
12.6.5 Summary 268
12.7 Summary 269
References 270

13 Unlocking Negative Emissions 277

Clair Gough, Patricia Thornley, Sarah Mander, Naomi Vaughan and
Amanda Lea‐Langton
13.1 Introduction 277
13.2 Summary of Chapters 277
13.3 Unlocking Negative Emissions: System‐Level Challenges 282
13.3.1 Terminology, Scale and Quantification 282
13.3.2 Non‐Technological Challenges 284
13.3.3 Technical Challenges 287
13.4 Can Negative Emissions be Unlocked? 287
13.4.1 Do we Need This Technology? 288
13.4.2 Can it Work? 288
13.4.3 Does the Focus on BECCS Distract From the Imperative to Radically
Reduce Demand and Transform the Global Energy System? 288
13.4.4 How Can BECCS Unlock Negative Emissions? 289
13.5 Summing Up 290
References 290

Index 291
 xiii

List of Contributors

Gabrial Anandarajah Olivier Dessens

UCL Energy Institute UCL Energy Institute
University College London University College London
UK UK

Kevin Anderson Temitope Falano

Tyndall Centre for Climate Change
Research, School of Mechanical
Aerospace and Civil Engineering
University of Manchester
UK
Tyndall Centre for Climate Change
Research, School of Mechanical
Aerospace and Civil Engineering
The University of Manchester
UK

Gordon Andrews Paul Fennell

School of Chemical and Process Bone Building
Engineering Imperial College London
University of Leeds UK
UK
Karen N. Finney
Amit Bhave Energy 2050, Department of Mechanical
CMCL Innovations Engineering
Castle Park, Cambridge University of Sheffield
UK UK

Bill Buschle Dennis Gammer

Institute for Energy Systems Energy Technologies Institute
School of Engineering Holywell Building
University of Edinburgh Loughborough
UK UK

Hannah Chalmers Clair Gough

Institute for Energy Systems
School of Engineering
University of Edinburgh
UK
Tyndall Centre for Climate Change
Research, School of Mechanical
Aerospace and Civil Engineering
The University of Manchester
UK
xiv List of Contributors

Geoffrey P. Hammond Will McDowall

Department of Mechanical Engineering
Institute for Sustainable Energy and the
Environment (ISEE)
University of Bath
UK
Alice Larkin
Tyndall Centre for Climate Change
Research, School of Mechanical
Aerospace and Civil Engineering
The University of Manchester
UK
Amanda Lea‐Langton
Tyndall Centre for Climate Change
Research, School of Mechanical
Aerospace and Civil Engineering
The University of Manchester
UK
UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources
University College London
UK
Alison Mohr
School of Sociology and Social Policy
University of Nottingham
UK
Geraldine Newton‐Cross
Energy Technologies Institute
Loughborough
UK
Juan Riaza
Institute for Energy Systems,
School of Engineering
University of Edinburgh
UK

Mathieu Lucquiaud Nilay Shah

Institute for Energy Systems, School Bone Building
of Engineering Imperial College London
University of Edinburgh UK
UK
Raphael Slade
Leslie Mabon Centre for Environmental Policy
Robert Gordon University Imperial College
Aberdeen London
UK UK

Niall Mac Dowell János Szuhánszki

Centre for Environmental Policy Energy 2050, Department of Mechanical
Imperial College London Engineering
UK University of Sheffield
UK
Sarah Mander
Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Richard H.S. Taylor
Research, School of Mechanical Bone Building
Aerospace and Civil Engineering Imperial College London
The University of Manchester UK
UK
 List of Contributors xv

Patricia Thornley Andrew Welfle

Tyndall Centre for Climate Change
Research, School of Mechanical
Aerospace and Civil Engineering
The University of Manchester
UK
Tyndall Centre for Climate Change
Research, School of Mechanical
Aerospace and Civil Engineering
The University of Manchester
UK

Naomi Vaughan
School of Environmental Sciences
University of East Anglia
Norwich
UK
 xvii

Foreword

This book is essential reading for anybody interested in understanding the role that
biomass energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) can play in the transition to
a low‑carbon economy and the challenge of achieving the targets embedded in the Paris
Agreement. It is the first comprehensive assessment of the technical, scientific, social,
economic, ethical and governance issues associated with BECCS.
There is no doubt that human activities are changing Earth’s climate with adverse
consequences for socio‐economic sectors, ecological systems and human health.
Recognising the danger associated with human‐induced climate change, literally every
government in the world signed the Paris Agreement (the United States has since with‑
drawn from the agreement), which called for the increase in global average temperature
should be held to well below 2 °C above pre‐industrial levels and to pursue efforts to
limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre‐industrial levels. To realise these tar‑
gets requires a rapid transition to a low‑carbon economy involving unprecedented
global cooperation and dramatic energy‐system transformations, and most models
require global net negative emissions of greenhouse gases in the second half of this
century through the widespread use of BECCS.
Key issues associated with BECCS such as the social and environmental sustainability
of biomass production, sustainability of supply, state of pre‐ and post‐combustion tech‑
nologies, energy penalty due to carbon capture, investment and operating costs, scale
required to deliver global net negative emissions, life‐cycle analyses and accounting
systems for greenhouse gas emissions and governance structures are all critically
assessed in this book.
The analysis suggests that BECCS is a workable technology, but scaling up from the
individual project level to the global scale requires a massive enhancement of the tech‑
nical, biological, logistical, governance and social processes associated with BECCS.
The analysis also suggests that the 1.5 °C target may be impossible to achieve without
BECCS or other negative emissions processes and that without BECCS the carbon price
in 2050 to achieve the 2 °C target could be doubled to about 300$/tCO2. Unfortunately,
current uncertainties in technology development, enabling frameworks and policy
development restrict quantification of the magnitude of global net negative emissions
that can be delivered by BECCS, and hence its role in limiting human‐induced climate
change.
Given the potential role that BECCS can play in limiting the magnitude of human‐
induced climate change, it is imperative that governments and the private sector
significantly enhance their research, development and demonstration agendas for this
xviii Foreword

technology, and develop appropriate governance structures, transparent and reliable

life‐cycle accounting systems for greenhouse gas emissions and incentives, policies and
mechanisms to stimulate and account for negative emissions on a global scale.

Director of Strategic Development at the Tyndall Centre

for Climate Change Research and
Chair of the Intergovernmental Science‐Policy Platform
on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Professor Sir Bob Watson
CMG FRS.
 xix

Preface

There is a growing and significant dependence on biomass energy with carbon capture
and storage (BECCS) in future greenhouse gas emission scenarios in global integrated
assessment models, and it has become central to the discourse around achieving a tar-
get of 2 °C global average temperature rise. This reliance on BECCS hinges on its poten-
tial to deliver so‐called negative emissions in order to maintain a sustainable atmospheric
concentration of CO2 cost-effectively. As a young and untested group of technologies,
there are many uncertainties associated with BECCS and there is strong imperative to
understand better the conditions for and consequences of pursuing this group of
technologies. BECCS technologies may offer a role in offsetting hard‐to‐abate sectors
(e.g. agriculture and aviation) or may enable an ‘overshoot’ in reaching cumulative emis-
sions budgets in the context of delayed action on mitigation. However, there is very little
practical experience of implementing the technology in commercial applications and,
indeed, relatively little research into its potential and the conditions for realising its
deployment. This book aims to set out the technical and scientific parameters of deliv-
ering BECCS technologies within the wider social, economic and political context in
which it sits, giving the reader a broad understanding of the key issues and potential
consequences of pursuing BECCS.
To understand BECCS, what it can offer and how it might contribute to climate‐
change mitigation, it is essential to consider the variety of technical and non‐technical
constraints in a joined‐up manner. Bringing together modern biomass energy systems
with CCS not only presents technical and scientific challenges but also, to be delivered
at scales large enough to contribute to substantive negative emissions, depends on other
factors, such as geopolitics and supply chain integration and may have significant impli-
cations at a societal level. This book brings the issues together in a clear and accessible
way that will support a more informed debate around the potential for this technology
to unlock negative emissions.
 xxi

List of Abbreviations/Acronyms

AFT Adiabatic flame temperature.

ASU Air separation unit.
BECCS Biomass energy with carbon capture and storage.
BIGCC Biomass integrated gasification combined cycle.
CCS Carbon capture and storage.
CFBC Circulating fluidized bed combustion.
CO2 Carbon dioxide.
CV Calorific value.
EOR Enhanced oil recovery.
EJ Exajoules (1 × 1018 J), unit of energy.
FGR Flue gas recirculation/recycling.
Gha Giga hectares (1 × 109 ha).
HP High pressure (steam turbine).
IAM Integrated assessment model.
IGCC Integrated gasification combined cycle.
IP Intermediate pressure (steam turbine).
LCOE Levelised cost of electricity.
LP Low pressure (steam turbine).
LHV Lower heating value.
MEA Monoethanolamine.
NET Negative emission technology.
NOAK nth of a kind.
PJ Petajoules (1 × 1015 J), unit of energy.
PM Particulate matter.
PSA Pressure swing adsorption.
RCP Representative concentration pathway.
RFG Reformulated gasoline.
SNG Synthetic natural gas.
TRL Technology readiness level.
UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
 1

Part I

BECCS Technologies
 3

Understanding Negative Emissions From BECCS

Clair Gough1, Sarah Mander1, Patricia Thornley1,
Amanda Lea‐Langton1 and Naomi Vaughan2
1
Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, School of Mechanical Aerospace and Civil Engineering,
University of Manchester, UK
2
School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

1.1 ­Introduction
Changes in our climate are driven by human activity such as agriculture, deforestation and
burning coal, oil and gas. The single most significant driver of climate change is the increase
in the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) in our atmosphere from the combustion of
fossil fuels. Efforts to limit the impacts of climate change focus on reducing the emissions
of CO2 and other greenhouse gases and adapting to live with the changing climate. In
recent years, a third approach has gained significant attention: action to remove CO2 from
the atmosphere and store the CO2 for long timescales (over hundreds of years). Recent
negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) deliv-
ered the 2015 Paris Agreement, which set a target of limiting global average temperature
rise to ‘well below 2 °C’ (the 2 °C target having been agreed within the UNFCCC in 2010)
while ‘pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C’ (UNFCCC, 2015). These
are ambitious goals that will require immediate and radical emissions reductions if they are
to be met. The idea of introducing ‘negative emissions’ is born out of the gap between the
current trajectory in global emissions and the pathway necessary to avoid dangerous cli-
mate change. The most prominent proposal for achieving such negative emissions is to use
biomass as a feedstock to generate electricity (or produce biofuels or hydrogen), capture
the CO2 during production and store it underground in geological reservoirs – biomass
energy with carbon capture and storage, or BECCS for short. However, the negative emis-
sions concept remains just that, a concept; in principle, technologies such as BECCS can
deliver net CO2 removal at a project scale, or potentially at a global scale sufficient to
impact atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and associated global average temperatures – but
in practice, this potential has yet to be accessed at anything like a global scale. This book
explores the challenges of unlocking negative emissions using BECCS.
Future climate change is most commonly explored using a suite of models that
represent the Earth’s climate system, the physical and socio‐economic impacts of a
changing climate and the greenhouse gases and other drivers generated by the global
Biomass Energy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS): Unlocking Negative Emissions, First Edition.
Edited by Clair Gough, Patricia Thornley, Sarah Mander, Naomi Vaughan and Amanda Lea-Langton.
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published 2018 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
4 Biomass Energy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS)

economy and energy systems. Integrated assessment models (IAMs) are used to create
scenarios of future emissions that are used by climate and impact models. The growing
and significant dependence on BECCS in future emissions scenarios in global IAMs has
placed BECCS at the centre of the discourse around achieving targets of 2 °C global
average temperature rise and, following the 2015 Paris Agreement, 1.5 °C. This reliance
on BECCS hinges on its potential to remove CO2 from the atmosphere in order to
maintain a sustainable atmospheric concentration of CO2 in a cost‐effective manner.
There are many different technical options that could deliver negative emissions via
BECCS and these vary in their technology readiness level (TRL). Some of the closer‐to‐
market BECCS technologies are composed of component parts that have been proven
and tested, but integration and deployment have not yet been demonstrated at com-
mercial scale. Consequently, there remain significant uncertainties associated with
BECCS performance and costs. Understanding the potential for, and implications of,
pursuing BECCS requires an interdisciplinary approach. It has been suggested that
BECCS could play a role in offsetting hard‐to‐abate sectors (e.g. agriculture and avia-
tion) or enable delayed action on mitigation. While the atmospheric concentration of
CO2 continues to rise and policy objectives focus on limiting warming to 1.5 °C, it
becomes increasingly likely that a means of delivering negative emissions will be
required. Whether or not limiting warming to 1.5 °C is feasible without negative emis-
sions remains unclear. In 2018, the IPCC will deliver a special report devoted to under-
standing the emissions pathways and impacts associated with 1.5 °C.
Despite its significance within the formal policy goals, there is very little practical
experience of implementing the technology in commercial applications and limited
research into the practicalities of implementation and conditions for accelerating deploy-
ment. Combining modern biomass energy systems with CCS not only presents technical
and scientific challenges but, to be implemented at scales large enough to deliver global
net negative emissions, also depends on other factors, such as geopolitics and supply‐
chain integration and may have significant societal implications. To understand BECCS,
what it can offer and how it might contribute to climate‐change mitigation, it is essential
to consider the technical and non‐technical constraints in a holistic manner.
This book aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of BECCS, describing the
technology options available and the implications of its future deployment. While there
is a rich literature relating to bioenergy and carbon capture and storage (CCS) sepa-
rately, there is currently very little published research on the integration of these com-
ponents. Our aim is to address this gap, bringing together technical, scientific, social,
economic and governance issues relating to the potential deployment of BECCS as a key
climate‐change mitigation approach. The uniqueness of the book lies in bringing these
subjects together and imposing order on the disparate sources of information. Doing
this in a clear and accessible way will support a more informed debate around the
potential for this technology to deliver deep cuts in emissions.

1.2 ­Climate‐Change Mitigation
In its Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC, 2014) identified four so‐called representative concentration pathways
(RCPs), describing time‐dependent ranges of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration
 Understanding Negative Emissions From BECCS 5

trajectories, emissions and land‐use data between 2005 and 2100 (van Vuuren et al.,
2011). Created by IAMs, each RCP is associated with emissions pathways that result in
atmospheric concentrations correlated with different levels of radiative forcing; these are
RCP2.6 (i.e. a radiative forcing of 2.6 W m−2), RCP4.5, RCP6, RCP8.5 (IPCC, 2014).
Greenhouse gas concentrations within each RCP are associated with a probability of
limiting temperature rise to below certain levels; only the lower concentrations within
RCP2.6 are considered ‘likely’ (i.e. associated with a greater than 66% chance) to limit
global atmospheric temperature rise to below 2 °C, or ‘more unlikely than likely’ (i.e. a
less than 50% chance) for 1.5 °C (IPCC, 2014). The RCPs provide a consistent framework
for analysis in different areas of climate‐change research – for example, by climate mod-
ellers to analyse potential climate impacts associated with the pathways (including pro-
jected global average temperature rise) and in IAMs to explore alternative ways in which
the emissions pathways for each RCP could be achieved (i.e. mitigation scenarios) under
different economic, technological, demographic and policy conditions (IPCC, 2014; van
Vuuren et al., 2011). The shared socio-economic pathways (SSPs) offer a further frame-
work for IAMs to explore alternative emission pathways, by detailing different socioeco-
nomic narratives that are consistent with the RCPs (O’Neill et al., 2017).
Climate‐change mitigation policies are focused around limiting the increase in the
global average temperature as described earlier. Achieving these targets is dependent
on tight limits to cumulative emissions of CO2 (and other greenhouse gases) in order to
stabilise their atmospheric concentration. The cumulative emissions associated with a
particular temperature goal is known as a carbon budget – the remaining budget for a
66% chance of keeping temperatures below a 2 °C increase is 800 Gt CO2 (from 2017)
(Le Quéré et al., 2016). With global emissions currently at about 36 Gt CO2/year, this
equates to about 20 years at current emissions rates before the budget is exceeded; until
emissions are reduced to near zero, atmospheric CO2 concentration will continue to
rise (ibid).
In this context, by offering a route to delivering negative emissions, BECCS appears
to be an attractive approach to potentially enabling mitigation costs to be reduced,
more ambitious targets to become feasible than would otherwise be possible or allow-
ing a delay to the year in which emissions will peak by enabling removal of CO2 from the
atmosphere in the future (Friedlingstein et al., 2011; van Vuuren et al., 2013). Typically,
scenarios that are ‘likely’ to stay within 2 °C include such an overshoot in the concentra-
tion achieved through large‐scale deployment of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) tech-
niques (i.e. BECCS or afforestation) (IPCC, 2014).
A large majority of the pathways that deliver atmospheric CO2 concentrations con-
sistent with the 2 °C target (and indeed many of those associated with temperature
increases up to 3 °C) require global net negative emissions by about 2070 (Fuss et al.,
2014). The range of CO2 removal through BECCS assumed in the IPCC scenarios is
typically between 2 and 10 Gt CO2/year by 2050 (Fuss et al., 2014; van Vuuren et al.,
2013) with a median value of around 608 Gt CO2 cumulatively removed by 2100 using
BECCS (Wiltshire et al., 2015). Global net negative emissions are achieved when the
amount of CO2 removed from the atmosphere is greater than emissions from all other
anthropogenic (i.e. resulting from or produced by human activities Allwood et al., 2014)
sources (Fuss et al., 2014). When discussing the contribution of negative emissions from
BECCS, it is useful to distinguish between three metrics that are typically used (Gough
et al., 2018), as described in Figure 1.1:
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"I don't fancy life is easier to milkmaids than to any one
else," I answered. "I think it is as easy here as anywhere,
don't you?"

"No!" said she, with a kind of vehemence. "I think it is hard,

intolerable, all but impossible. It is all a mass of
contradictions from first to last."

"Hush, hush!" I said, alarmed. "Say what you like to me,

but don't speak so loud. Remember what we heard this
morning about eavesdropping. I do wish you would tell me
what troubles you so, dear. Perhaps it would not seem so
bad, if you talked it over."

She laid her head on my lap and cried as if her heart would
break.

"O Rosamond, I shall never be a Saint—never!" said she,

sobbing. "The more I try the worse I am."

"What now?" said I.

"You know how I have fasted and prayed, lately," she

continued. "I have denied myself everything—even
converse with you, Rosamond. I have striven to put down
all affection for one more than another, and have associated
with those I liked the least—"

"I wondered what made you so intimate with Sister Frances,

and Sister Mary Paula, and so cold to me," I said. "I was
afraid I had offended you."

"I know you were, and I made up my mind to bear the

unjust suspicion and not justify myself in your eyes, as
another means of humiliation. I have eaten only the
coarsest food, and worn sackcloth next my skin, and lain all
night upon the floor—and it is all—of no use—I only feel—
just as cross as I can be!" Here she cried afresh, and I
soothed her as well as I could. "I read in the life of St
Francis how the Saint requested the bird to stop singing,
and tamed the wolf," she continued, presently, "and I
thought I would try to tame Sultan our peacock; but when I
kindly requested him to leave his corn for the hens, he
wouldn't; and when (first asking the intercession of St.
Francis) I tried to induce him to give it up to me—he—he
pecked me," sobbed Amice, with another burst of grief, and
she showed me her hand, all raw and sort in the palm
where the ugly creature had wounded her.

"Amice," said I, when she was a little calmer, "why don't

you tell all these things to Father Fabian?"

"I did, last night," said she; "and he told me I was making
myself ill to no purpose, and that the exercises appointed
were enough for me. But St. Clare and the other Saints
used a great many more austerities than these."

"I suppose their spiritual superiors allowed them," I said.

"Then why can't mine allow me? Unless I can be a Saint I

don't care to be a religious at all. I wish I could go
somewhere else—to some of the strict houses which Sister
Catherine and Mother Mary Monica tell us of—and then I
might have a chance, perhaps."

"And would you leave Mother Gertrude—the only relation

you have in the world?" I asked her.

"A religious has naught to do with family affection,

Rosamond. Ought I not to disregard every earthly tie, if
thereby I can advance toward holiness?"

The bell sounded for vespers just then, so we could talk no

more; but I am very much puzzled. I am sure my father
and my own relations must always be more to me than any
one else can be. It does not seem to me either as if Amice
were going to work in the right way to be a Saint. I think a
real Saint would be the last person to know that he was
one.

When we met at supper, Sister Catherine remained on her

knees in a corner all the time we were eating, and when we
had finished, she kissed the feet of each of us as we went
out, and begged our pardon for her many offences.

"See how humble dear Sister Catherine is," said Sister Mary
Paula. "She begged to be allowed to perform this public
penance because she said she had sinned against charity."

I suppose it was very good of her, but I can't help thinking

it would have been more really humble if she had repented
and apologized in private. It seems to me that such a show
of humility might make one proud of being humble. But I
dare say she is right and I am wrong.
 CHAPTER VIII.

I HAVE heard some great news to-day, which is yet

unknown to most of the household, though they must
guess, of course, that something is going to happen, from
seeing the preparations that are making. 'Twas from no
good will of mine that I knew it either, for I hate secrets.

After breakfast, Mother Gertrude requested Amice and

myself to help her put in order some tapestry. We followed
her to the east end of the house, where are certain large
apartments which have never been opened in my time.
Mother Gertrude unlocked the door which separates them
from the rest of the house and threw it open. The first room
we entered was quite dark, save for certain rays which
streamed through small cracks and crannies in the shutters,
and showed us long lines of dust, while a moldy, close smell
issued from the open door.

"Phew!" exclaimed Mother Gertrude. "Amice, child, step in

and open the shutters."

Amice shrank back a little.

"Let me do it," said I; and without waiting to be told, as I

suppose I should, I went in, and after a little fumbling
succeeded in finding and drawing the bolt, and opening not
only the shutters, but the casement, letting in the sweet
light and air.

"Suppose we open all the casements and give the place a

thorough airing," said I.
"Yes, do, my child," answered Mother Gertrude. "Amice,
can't you help her, and not leave her to break all her finger
nails." For all the time, Amice had stood still at the door.

"I waited to be told what to do," answered Amice, coloring

as red as fire, and then coming forward without another
word, she began to help me open the rooms. There were
three, of good size and lofty, besides a closet or oratory
with an altar and crucifix. The furniture had been good,
though somewhat scanty, but it was battered and moth-
eaten, and the floors were thick with dust, while something
—the wind, I suppose—had swept into curious waves and
traces, as though somebody had been pacing back and
forth with a long gown on. I remarked on this appearance to
Amice.

"Aye," said Mother Gertrude, overhearing me—and looking

sadly about her, "If a ghost ever walked—Many a weary
hour she paced these floors, poor thing, softly singing to
herself, or repeating Psalms."

"Who, dear mother?" I ventured to ask.

"The one who last lived here, child. Never mind, now. I trust
her soul hath gotten grace for all, and that she is resting
with the Saints in Paradise. But how we are ever going to
make these rooms fit for the Queen and her family, is more
than I can guess."

"The queen!" I repeated.

"Aye, child. There, I have let the cat out of the bag, but
never mind. You would have heard it before long, at any
rate. Yes, children, her Grace being in these parts, and
having somehow heard of the sanctity of our Lady's shrine
in the garden, and of our many holy relics, has chosen our
poor house in which to make a retreat, and she is coming
next week to remain a month with us."

"'Tis a great honor for us," I said.

"Why, yes, in one way it is, and yet I could have wished her
Grace had chosen some other house. I don't fancy an inroad
of giddy girls from the Court, I must say."

"The Queen herself is very grave and religious, I have heard

say," I remarked. "Maybe her attendants will not be so
giddy, after all."

"Well, well, we will hope for the best. Do you and Amice set
all these chairs out into the garden to begin with, and give
them a good beating and dusting, and I will take order for
the sweeping and washing of the floors, and that being in
hand, we will overlook the tapestry and see what can be
done to mend it."

Mother Gertrude was now in her element, and so I confess

was I, for I do love a housewifely bustle. We carried all the
chairs and stools down into the garden, and cutting light
willow switches, we began to beat the cushions, raising
clouds of dust, and getting ourselves into quite a frolic over
it. In the midst of our labors and laughing, came along
Sister Catherine and Sister Paula, inseparable, as usual. I
wonder, by the way, how Sister Catherine reconciles her
intimacy with the rule which forbids particular friendships
among the religious.

"Dear me!" said Sister Catherine, in a tone of surprise—

affected surprise, I may say—"Is it possible that this is our
learned Rosamond, acting the part of a housemaid?"

"Even as you see, Sister!" I answered, merrily, and sending

at the same time a cloud of dust in her direction (I fear I
did it on purpose), which made her sneeze and cough
heartily.

"Do be careful, child," said she, pettishly. "You cover me

with dust, but of course one can't expect learned ladies to
be very skilful in housewifery. I am glad your superiors at
last see the need of humbling your proud spirits by setting
you at a menial office."

"But, methinks, a mortified and recollected demeanor would

be more suitable than all this laughter!" added Sister Mary
Paula. "One would think you were making holiday, instead
of doing penance."

I would not trust my tongue to answer, but raised such a

cloud of dust that they were glad to beat a retreat.

"Rosamond," said Amice, after they were gone, "do you

really suppose this work was given us as a penance and
humiliation?"

"No," I answered. "I suppose it was given us because we

are the youngest in the house and have little to do, and
because Mother Gertrude likes to have us about her.
Besides, where is the mortification?"

"But it is menial work, you must allow that," she insisted.

"It is work that must needs be done, and what matters

whether it be menial or not? Come, let us set aside these
chairs and bring down the rest."

Amice complied, but there was no more sport for her. She
was plunged at once into discomfort, and began looking at
herself, as usual.
"I did not think I needed any such humiliation, but no doubt
Mother knows best," said she, presently. "I don't think I put
myself forward very much."

"Of course you don't, and I have no notion that Mother had
any such matter in her head," said I. "Don't give it another
thought. See how oddly the velvet of this chair is spotted,
as with drops of water."

"But I know I shall never be a Saint," continued Amice, just

glancing at the chair, but pursuing her own thoughts, as
usual. "Do you know, Rosamond, I was really afraid to enter
that room?"

"So I thought, and that was what made me offer. But

Amice, I do think you need not have answered Mother
Gertrude so."

"I know it," she said, in a kind of despairing tone. "O yes! I
do need to have my pride mortified. But I shall never be a
Saint, after all."

"I'll tell you what, child," said Mother Gertrude, who had
come upon us unawares, in the noise we were making. "You
are a deal more likely to make a Saint if you stop thinking
about yourself and turning yourself inside out all the time.
Saints, daughter, cannot be made, to my thinking. You can
make artificial flowers to look very pretty at a distance, but
if you want a real live plant, with sap, and leaves, and
flowers, and fruit, you must needs give it time to grow."

Methinks a very wise saying of the dear old Mother's, and

one I shall lay up.

We finished dusting the old chairs, and then began to

wonder how we should make them presentable, for, though
the frames were good, the covers were both ragged and
faded, and there was no time to get them covered anew.
Presently Amice made a suggestion.

"You know the brown Hollands, of which we have great

store in the wardrobe. Why not make covers of that, binding
them with some bright colors? If they were nicely laundried,
as Sister Bridget knows how to do them, I think they would
at least be neat and pleasant."

"Upon my word, child, 'tis a good thought, and well

devised!" said Mother Gertrude, much pleased, as she
always is whenever we show any cleverness. "We will try it
on the withdrawing room, at any rate: and 'twas a good
thing to remember Sister Bridget, too, poor thing, for she
loves to be of service, though her wits are small. I tell you,
children, talking of saints, that poor weakly dull thing is
nearer to real saintship than some who are far wiser, and
think themselves far holier, to boot. Rosamond, do you
bring down a piece of the Hollands, and we will see how it
looks."

In the wardrobe, chancing to look out at the window, I saw

Amice reading something, which presently she put into her
bosom. Some old book of devotion, I dare say. She will
never throw away a bit of written or printed paper, if she
can help it.
 CHAPTER IX.

July 14.

WE have finished all our work, though we had to call in

more help. Mother Gertrude chose Sister Bonaventure and
Sister Margaret, besides Sister Bridget, to do the washing
and ironing. They are not so bright as some, but they are
good with the needle; and as Mother says, can mind what
they are told without an argument about it. The apartments
are now all arranged. The antichamber is done in green
serge, the withdrawing room in red, and the bed-chamber
all in linen, as Amice suggested. Mother Superior inspected
the work this afternoon, and praised us for our diligence
and skill.

"I fear her Grace will think them very plain and bare!" said
Mother Gertrude.

"Her Grace, Sister, does not come hither seeking for ease
and luxury!" answered Mother Superior. "Moreover, being a
kind and gracious lady, she will doubtless be satisfied with
the best we have to offer. You have done well, dear Sisters
and children, and I thank you for your pains."
"And how are her Grace's attendants to be accommodated?"
asked Mother Gertrude.

"She will bring no great train—only three attendants—

Mistress Patience, her bower-woman, Master Griffith, her
steward, who will live with Father Fabian, and Mistress Anne
Bullen, one of her ladies. You will have the two small rooms
at this end of the gallery prepared for the ladies, not
changing the furniture, but laying clean linen and mats. A
little hard lodging will not harm them for a while."

"I trow not!" answered Mother Gertrude. "I am glad we are

to have no train of court dames to turn our giddy pates,
whereof we have enow;" she added, putting her hands on
the shoulders of us girls, as we stood near her, as if she had
meant to include us among the giddy pates. I expected to
see Amice color, as usual, but she only smiled and kissed
the dear wrinkled hand. Somehow she has been much more
pleasant the last few days.

CHAPTER X.
 St. Mary Magdalene, July 21.

OUR great guests have come, and are safely settled, and
her Grace is pleased to approve of her rooms, specially the
one furnished with linen. She asked whose was the
invention, and being told by Mother Superior that it was one
of the pupils (for that is the name we young ones go by),
she sent her her thanks and a pretty Psalter, as a token of
approbation. I never was more delighted, not only for the
sake of Amice, who is far oftener blamed than commended,
but because dear Mother Gertrude was so pleased. One
never can tell how Amice will take anything, she has so
many notions; but she came herself and showed the book
to me, saying how glad she was to possess a whole Psalter
of her own.

"Was it not kind of her Grace?" she said.

"Indeed it was!" I answered. "I think it is always kind in

people to show pleasure when one tries to please them."

"I believe you are right!" she said, considering. "The pot of
ointment St. Mary Magdalene gave our Lord could be no
such great gift to Him, and yet He showed Himself pleased
with that, as no doubt He would if some little child had
given Him a handful of shells, or wild flowers."

Amice has seemed much pleasanter and happier these last

days.

The Queen does indeed look like a most gracious lady. I

should say she must have been very well-favored in her
youth, but she is faded and worn, and looks I can't but
think as if she had some settled sorrow, which was wearing
away her health and life. Mistress Patience, her bower-
woman, is a dignified, somewhat austere looking lady, and
yet I like her. She seems like one who might be very kind
and faithful if one were in any trouble. Mistress Anne Bullen
is of another sort. At the first glance I fell in love with her
beauty and grace, but somehow, as I see her more, I do not
like her as well. I can hardly tell why, only she is never
quiet a minute, and seems to act as if she wished to draw
all eyes to herself. She has, too, a certain mocking
expression, even in church—indeed I think more there than
anywhere—which does not please me. But this is hard
judgment on one whom I have seen but two or three times.

Although her Grace must needs have been very weary with
her journey, she was at early mass this morning, and
partook of the sacrament with great devotion, as did
Mistress Patience and Master Griffith. Mistress Bullen did
not, I suppose, from lack of preparation.

Of course this visit has set all our little community in a

ferment. That is only natural. We have so few events to
mark our lives, that small matters become great. Beside
this can hardly be called a small matter.

"Ah!" said Sister Anne to Sister Bridget, "You little thought,

when you were so busy with your chairs, who was to sit on
them!"

"O yes, I did!" answered Sister Bridget, composedly, as

usual: "Mother Gertrude told me."

"Really! And you kept the news to yourself all that time!
How wonderful!"
"I don't see anything wonderful!" said Sister Bridget, who
understands everything quite literally: "Mother Gertrude
told me not to tell, and so, of course, I could not, if I had
wished it."

"You are a good soul, and I wont tease you," said Sister
Anne, who has far more of generosity with her than her
Sister. "But say now, Sister Bridget, is it not a wonderful
thing that a real Queen should come and lodge under our
roof?"

"No, I don't know that it is," answered Sister Bridget,

considering a little, as usual.

"You know, Sister Anne, that our Lord dwells here all the
time—Father Fabian says so—and He is much greater than
any Queen."

I believe Sister Bridget will be one of the saints that grow,

as Mother Gertrude says.

July 24th.

Her Grace has fallen into a settled way of life, and methinks
seems already happier than when she came. She keeps all
the hours, and also spends much time in prayer at the
shrine of our Lady, in the garden. It was a favorite place of
my own, but of course I do not intrude on her. I went this
morning before I thought she would be up, meaning to say
prayers for my father, from whom I have not heard, when,
on entering the little chapel, I found her Grace before me. I
would have retired noiselessly, but her Grace looked round,
and seeing me, she beckoned me to come and kneel beside
her.

"The place is small," said she, "but two or three devout

hearts can find room in it, and we shall not hinder each
other's prayers."

So we said our prayers together in silence, but her Grace

sighed many times—oh, so deeply, as if from such a
burdened heart, that I was moved to pray for her. I am
sure, "Happy as a Queen" is not a true saying, in her case.

When her Grace arose, I would have retired in silence, but

she detained me, and placing herself on my favorite seat,
she called me to sit down beside her. I did so without
demur, since she bade me.

"You are Rosamond, daughter of the good knight, Sir

Stephen Corbet, are you not?" asked her Grace.

"Yes, madam," I answered. Oh, how I did long to ask if she

had seen my father, but of course I did not speak till spoken
to.

"And, do you know, little Rosamond, that you are partly the
cause of my coming here?" Then as I hesitated what to say,
she continued: "I had heard before of this shrine of our
Lady's, which had been hallowed by the prayers of St.
Ethelburga long ago, and being one day in conversation
with your kinsman, Lord Stanton, I questioned him about it.
He, seeing my interest, offered to bring me his cousin, Sir
Stephen Corbet, who, he said, had a daughter in the house,
and could tell me more than himself. I remembered the
good knight, and was glad to see him again; and he coming
to me, we held long discourse together. He told me the
house was of the best repute, both for sanctity of manners
and good works, though 'twas not of the strictest order—
that the Superior was a lady of good family and breeding,
that the situation was pleasant, and the air sweet and
wholesome. On farther question, he also said that you were
here, and seemed very happy; and also that watching
before the shrine of our Lady in the garden, you had
received from her a most comfortable assurance concerning
your mother, who had died suddenly without the
sacraments. This determined me to seek this house as a
place to hold a religious retreat, thinking that perhaps the
same grace might, unworthy as I am, be vouchsafed to me,
who am sorely in need."

She again sighed heavily, and as she looked abroad in

silence for some minutes, I am sure I saw tears in her
lovely eyes. I sat quite still, not knowing what better to do.

"Will you tell me the history of this matter, my child?" said

she presently, coming back, as it were, from the place
where her thoughts had gone. "Believe me, it is no idle
curiosity which prompts the request."

Now my night in the chapel has ever seemed to me so

sacred that I have never mentioned it save to my father
and Amice, to whom I tell everything, and to Father Fabian
my confessor; but seeing the Queen's desire. I could not
refuse: so I told her all as truly as if I had been at
confession. She listened eagerly, but looked, I thought,
disappointed when I had done.

"And was that all?" she said. "Was there no sign from the
Holy Image—no light nor voice?"

"I told her there was none—it was only that some influence
seemed sweetly to bring to my mind, and open to my
apprehension the words I had so often read before."
"And was that all?" said the Queen, once more; and again
she sighed heavily. I knew it was not my place to speak, far
less to instruct her, but something seemed to bid me not
hold my peace.

"If I dared be so bold, Madam," I began, with fear and

trembling.

"Well!" said her Grace, smiling sweetly: "If you dare be so

bold maiden, what then?"

"Then, Madam," I answered, "I would rather have things as

they are. If I had seen a vision—if our Lady's image had
bowed to me, or I had seen a great light, or heard an angel
speaking, I might afterward have come to think I had
dreamed it. But these blessed words are not liable to any
such doubt. They are in the Holy Psalms, a part of God's
own word—so I can read them when I please and feel that
they must be true."

"There is much in what you say!" answered her Grace.

"Rosamond, you are a good child. If your mother had not
given you to this house, I should be tempted to beg you of
your father, and keep you about me. But we must not
commit sacrilege, must we, my maiden? However, I shall
make bold to ask the Superior to give me much of your
company."

So saying, her Grace kissed my forehead and walked away,

leaving me overwhelmed with her kindness. This afternoon
Mother Superior called Amice and myself, and told us that
her Grace had made choice of us to attend her on alternate
days, and also to walk abroad with her when she chose to
visit any of the poor folks. Of course we made no objection.

"'Tis a great honor, doubtless!" said Amice, when we left the

room. "But I could wish her Grace had chosen some one
else. However, she has a right to command the services of
all in the house, and after all, 'tis but a matter of
obedience."

"Just so!" I answered, delighted at her taking it so calmly.

"And if we can give any comfort or pleasure to her Grace, I
am sure we should be glad to do it."

"But I shall not know how to address her," said Amice.

"There is dear old Mother Mary Monica sitting in the sun,"

said I; "let us go and ask her counsel. She was once maid
of honor to the late Queen, you know."

So we went and sat down at the old nun's feet and laid our
matters before her, asking her to advise us how we should
demean ourselves before the Queen.

"Well, well," she said: "so her Grace has chosen you out of
all the family to wait on her. I wish the honor may not bring
you ill will. But you deserve it, for you are good maidens,
good maids!" And she stroked our heads with her trembling,
withered hands. "You are kind to the old and the simple,
and that is sure to bring a blessing. Only be not set up in
your own conceits, for pride is a sin—one of the seven
deadly sins—and court favor is vainer than thistle-down and
more changeable than the wind."

"So I suppose," said I; "but, dear Mother, you know the

ways of court; will you not tell us how we should behave?"

"Aye, surely, child. Was I not maid of honor to the good

Queen Elizabeth? Good indeed she was, but she was not
happy, for all. Many a ploughman's or fisher's dam is better
off than was that daughter and wife of kings. As to
behaving—just behave like ladies. Take no liberties, even
though your mistress should seem to invite them. Speak
when you are spoken to, modestly and openly, and be as
silent as the grave as to any and every word you may hear
in the presence, be it ever so light. Observe these rules,
and you will do well enough. There are no men about her
Grace, or saucy pages to make mischief, and if there were
you are no silly giglets to be led into scrapes. Nay, you will
do well enough, no fear."

"Will you not give us your prayers, dear Mother?" said

Amice.

"Aye, that I will, daughter; and do you give yours to your

mistress, for she has need of them. There is heart trouble in
her face, poor lady. And daughters, another thing. Be you
courteous and kind to all, and learn all you can, but do not
you go making a friend and intimate of this fine court young
lady. Take my word for it, you will gain nothing but trouble
thereby. 'Tis a fair creature too, and gracious, but giddy,
and too fond of admiration. Mind, I don't say that there is
any real harm in her. But she has grown up in the French
court, which was no good school in my day, and I doubt has
not improved since; and she has had no motherly training,
poor thing. She seems to me like one who would make eyes
at the blessed St. Anthony himself, and failing the saint, she
would flirt with his very pig rather than lack her game."

"Did St. Anthony have a pig?" I asked.

"Surely, child. Have you never read his life? When I was a
young lady in London—I wot not if the usage is kept up—
devout persons used often to buy lame or sickly swine of
the drovers, and putting the saint's mark on them, turn
them loose in the street. Every one fed them, and they soon
learned to know their benefactors. I have seen mine
honored uncle—for my mother had a brother who was a
merchant and Lord Mayor—I have seen my good uncle
followed by two or three lusty porkers, grunting and
squealing for the crusts which the good man dispensed from
his pocket. The Franciscans have ever been kind to animals;
and St. Francis loved the birds, especially. He would never
have torn in pieces the sparrow that came into church, as
St. Dominic did."

"I wonder whether St. Dominic ever read that verse in the
Psalter, about the sparrow finding a nest wherein to lay her
young?" remarked Amice.

"Eh, dear, I don't know—I suppose so. He was a stern man,

was St. Dominic."

"Mother," said Amice, after a little silence, "did you know

the lady who used to live in the Queen's apartment?"

"Did I know her? Aye, indeed, child! Did I not have the
principal care of her, under the Mother Superior that was
then? But that was long ago. Mother Gertrude was a young
woman then, and Mother Superior that now is, was just
professed. It was in the weary times of the civil wars, in
Henry Sixth's day, that the poor lady came here, and she
lived in those rooms twenty years—twenty years, children—
and never saw a face save Mother Superior's and mine, and
latterly Mother Gertrude's, when she began to divide the
charge with me."

"What, not at church?" said I.

"She never went into the church," answered Mother Mary

Monica. "There is a sliding panel in the oratory—I know not
whether you found it—behind which is a very close grating,
too close to be seen through, looking upon the altar. Here
she might hear mass, if she would, but she never went into
the church."