Carbon math can be complicated. To illustrate one of the biggest issues with BECCS, we need to run through the logic on its carbon accounting. If the cycle was logically carbon neutral before, now it’s carbon negative: On net, emissions are removed from the atmosphere. Issues with carbon math might sound a little familiar if you’ve read any of James’s reporting on carbon offsets, programs where people pay for others to avoid emissions. That helps keep costs down, so BECCS is currently much cheaper than direct air capture and other forms of carbon removal.