FAB-GGR is an interdisciplinary project that aims to better understand the real-world feasibility and consequences of large-scale afforestation and biomass energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) approaches to greenhouse gas removal (GGR).

As part of FAB-GGR, 3S researchers – Jason Chilvers, Laurie Waller, Irene Lorenzoni – are studying the social and political feasibility of developing afforestation and BECCS for large-scale GGR. The research will map the issues and forms of societal engagement shaping the development of afforestation and BECCS in the UK, aiming to analyse the feasibility of developing these GGR approaches from the perspectives of governance and society.

The research involves a mixed-methods approach that combines digital methods research with qualitative case analysis and interviews. The study will also aim to test some issue map visualisations in small-scale participation experiments.

The interdisciplinary FAB-GGR research team is led by Dr Naomi Vaughan and involves scientists, engineers and social scientists from the University of East Anglia, the University of Manchester, the University of Exeter and the University of Aberdeen with support from project partners at the Met Office. The project is part of a £8.3 million Greenhouse Gas Removal Research Programme, which will evaluate the potential and wider implications of a variety of options for large-scale removal of greenhouse gases. The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ERSC) funds the Greenhouse Gas Removal programme.