%0 Journal Article %J Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences %D 2019 %T Gasification of coal and biomass as a net carbon-negative power source for environment-friendly electricity generation in China %A Lu, Xi %A Liang Cao %A Wang, Haikun %A Peng, Wei %A Xing, Jia %A Wang, Shuxiao %A Siyi Cai %A Bo Shen %A Yang, Qing %A Nielsen, Chris P. %A McElroy, Michael B. %X Realizing the goal of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 2 °C by the end of this century will most likely require deployment of carbon-negative technologies. It is particularly important that China, as the world’s top carbon emitter, avoids being locked into carbon-intensive, coal-fired power-generation technologies and undertakes a smooth transition from high- to negative-carbon electricity production. We focus here on deploying a combination of coal and biomass energy to produce electricity in China using an integrated gasification cycle system combined with carbon capture and storage (CBECCS). Such a system will also reduce air pollutant emissions, thus contributing to China’s near-term goal of improving air quality. We evaluate the bus-bar electricity-generation prices for CBECCS with mixing ratios of crop residues varying from 0 to 100%, as well as associated costs for carbon mitigation and cobenefits for air quality. We find that CBECCS systems employing a crop residue ratio of 35% could produce electricity with net-zero life-cycle emissions of greenhouse gases, with a levelized cost of electricity of no more than 9.2 US cents per kilowatt hour. A carbon price of approximately $52.0 per ton would make CBECCS cost-competitive with pulverized coal power plants. Therefore, our results provide critical insights for designing a CBECCS strategy in China to harness near-term air-quality cobenefits while laying the foundation for achieving negative carbon emissions in the long run. %B Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences %V 116 %P 8206-8213 %G eng %U https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/04/02/1812239116 %N 17