SECTOR SOLUTIONS — PULP & PAPER

Decarbonize the Mill.
Fund It With the Market.

Pulp and paper consumes roughly 6% of global industrial energy yet emits only about 2% of industrial CO₂ — the gap is a biogenic fuel base that also makes it one of the few sectors that can go net-negative. Below: where mill emissions sit, the levers and incentive stack that fund them, and the tools to size both for your operation.

~2%
of global industrial CO₂ — while consuming ~6% of global industrial energy (IEA)
4.2%/yr
1.5°C-aligned Scope 1+2 reduction pathway (SBTi cross-sector absolute contraction)
Net-negative
decarb potential: two-thirds of mill fuel is already biogenic — BECCS turns that base into engineered removals
Where Mill Emissions Live

Three Buckets. Very Different Economics.

Reference numbers from our white paper’s hypothetical 200 kADt/yr North American kraft mill. Your mill will differ — that’s what the estimator below and TerraNova’s mill-level MRV are for.

Fossil Scope 1

NG Package Boiler + Lime Kiln

~70 ktCO₂/yr

Roughly 85% of fossil Scope 1 at the reference mill. This is where fuel switching, on-site biogas and kiln electrification decisions are won or lost.

Scope 2

Grid Electricity

~20 ktCO₂/yr

At a typical North American grid factor — but 50–60 ktCO₂/yr on fossil-heavy grids. Grid region changes which levers clear the hurdle rate.

Biogenic CO₂

Black Liquor & Biomass Combustion

~280 ktCO₂/yr

Not counted in fossil totals — and the sector’s most under-utilized opportunity: engineered removals (BECCS) at the recovery and biomass boilers.

Sector Research

The Pulp & Paper Decarb Series

Three papers, one reference mill, every number shown with its incentive stack — free to read, with the full white paper also available as a PDF.

FULL WHITE PAPER

Pulp & Paper Decarbonization — The Complete Playbook

The IEA sector pathway to 2050, mill emissions anatomy, the full marginal-abatement analysis with incentive stacking, and two build-ready case studies.

Read online →
Download the PDF ↓
SHORT PAPER

The 15-Minute Version — Levers & Case Studies

BECCS at the recovery boiler ($151/t plain MAC, break-even once the CCUS ITC and a removal offtake stack) and on-site biogas at the package boiler ($200/t plain, cleared by OBPS + CFR credits).

Read the short paper →
SBTi GUIDE

Setting Science-Based Targets for Pulp & Paper

How the sector pathway translates into near-term and net-zero targets, what counts toward them, and how biogenic carbon is treated in target accounting.

Read the SBTi guide →
Decarb Tool

Mill Decarbonization Estimator

Scale the white paper’s reference-mill numbers to your production and grid, and see your directional footprint, gross carbon-cost exposure, and the two documented abatement levers.

Directional estimates scaled linearly from the white paper’s hypothetical 200 kADt/yr kraft mill. Exposure shown gross, before OBPS output-based allocations. A real answer needs your mill’s energy balance — that’s TerraNova.

Fossil Scope 1
82,000
tCO₂e/yr — ~85% from the NG package boiler and lime kiln
Scope 2 (grid)
20,000
tCO₂e/yr at a typical North American grid factor
Gross carbon-cost exposure
CAD $11.2M/yr
Fossil Scope 1 + 2 × carbon price, before OBPS output-based allocations and any credit revenue
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Unlock the abatement levers for your mill

See the biogas and BECCS numbers scaled to your production — plus the incentive stack (OBPS, CFR, CCUS ITC) that takes them to break-even.

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Lever 1 — On-site biogas
2,011
tCO₂e/yr abated at the package boiler. Plain MAC ~$200/t; OBPS savings and CFR Gaseous-Class credits close the gap
Lever 2 — BECCS capture
40,000
tCO₂/yr engineered removals at the recovery & biomass boilers. $151/t plain → $103 with the 50% CCUS ITC → break-even with a $275/t offtake
Biogenic pool (BECCS ceiling)
280,000
tCO₂/yr of biogenic CO₂ from black liquor and biomass — the long-run engineered-removal opportunity
Get a Mill-Specific MACC →
How TerraNova Helps

From Reference Mill to Your Mill

The white paper shows why levers clear only when incentives stack. TerraNova runs that same analysis on your actual energy balance — continuously.

01 · Report

Mill-Level MRV

Site and corporate emission reporting across Scope 1, 2 and biogenic — boiler, kiln and recovery-line granularity.

02 · Identify

Adjusted MACC

Marginal abatement costs adjusted for OBPS, CFR credit classes, the CCUS ITC and removal offtakes — the stacking logic from the white paper, computed per project.

03 · Reduce

Decarb Planning

Best-fit regional projects — biogas, fuel switching, electrification, BECCS — sequenced against capital cycles and outage windows.

04 · Optimise

Incentives & Market Watch

Incentive and compliance management plus regulatory updates and pricing — so the stack that made a project viable stays visible.

Explore TerraNova →
How Advisory Helps

Practitioners for the Hard Parts

Strategy

Decarbonization Strategy

Mill-by-mill roadmaps that survive the CFO: lever sequencing, capital planning and incentive capture across OBPS, CFR and the CCUS ITC.

Decarb Strategy →
Targets

SBTi Target Setting

Near-term and net-zero targets on the sector pathway, with biogenic accounting handled correctly from day one.

SBTi guide for pulp & paper →
Projects

Carbon Projects — Industrial & Clean Fuels

BECCS and biogas development support: credit-pathway selection, offtake structuring and verification — turning abatement into revenue.

Industrial carbon projects →

Ready to Put Numbers on Your Mill?

Start with the white paper, pressure-test the estimator, then let TerraNova and our advisory team build the mill-specific version — MACC, incentives and all.