Near-term, geospatial opportunity for biomass carbon storage to address the wildfire and climate crises

Climate change and fire suppression are intensifying wildfires, prompting fuel reduction treatments that will generate gigatonnes of waste biomass residues in the near term. We evaluate the potential for anoxic biomass burial to serve as a scalable approach to offtake these residues while simultaneously providing durable carbon storage. Using geospatial water balance modeling across the western United States, we find that minimum soil cover thickness varies over four orders of magnitude, reflecting strong site dependence. Life cycle emissions modeling indicates that burial is more carbon efficient than decomposition, pile burning, or biochar production. Although bioenergy with carbon capture and storage ultimately yields greater carbon benefits, infrastructure requirements and economic analysis indicate that burial is a more immediate, cost-effective option. Burial could thus provide a scalable, carbon-efficient bridge, pending further study of decay and storage controls. Combining biomass carbon removal and storage with wildfire mitigation forestry illustrates the opportunity to leverage shared underlying goals for net climate and economic benefit.