Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) encompasses a suite of technologies that capture carbon dioxide emissions from industrial processes, power generation, and directly from the atmosphere, then either permanently store this greenhouse gas underground or convert it into valuable products. This integrated approach represents a critical climate mitigation strategy addressing emissions from hard-to-abate sectors while potentially creating economic value from what would otherwise be a waste product contributing to global warming.
Unlike strategies focused solely on transitioning to renewable energy, CCUS provides pathways to manage carbon emissions from existing infrastructure and industrial processes where electrification or alternative technologies remain challenging. By capturing CO₂ before it enters the atmosphere or removing it directly from ambient air, these technologies offer mechanisms to reduce net emissions while enabling continued use of certain fossil resources during the energy transition, creating potentially important bridge solutions toward long-term decarbonization goals.
Key Components of CCUS:
- Carbon Capture Technologies
- Post-combustion capture from flue gases using solvents, sorbents, or membranes
- Pre-combustion capture removing carbon before combustion
- Oxy-fuel combustion generating concentrated CO₂ streams
- Direct air capture extracting CO₂ from ambient atmosphere
- CO₂ Transportation Infrastructure
- Pipeline networks connecting capture and storage/utilization sites
- Ship transport for offshore or dispersed storage locations
- Compression and liquefaction systems preparing CO₂ for transport
- Monitoring systems ensuring safe operation
- Geological Storage Options
- Depleted oil and gas reservoirs with proven containment
- Deep saline aquifers offering vast storage potential
- Enhanced oil recovery combining storage with energy production
- Basalt formations enabling mineral carbonation
- Carbon Utilization Pathways
- Chemical conversion to fuels, polymers, and building materials
- Biological utilization in algae cultivation and agriculture
- Mineralization processes creating stable carbonate products
- Enhanced oil recovery utilizing CO₂ while storing portions underground
- Enabling Systems and Infrastructure
- Measurement, reporting, and verification protocols ensuring credibility
- Regulatory frameworks establishing operational standards
- Financial mechanisms creating economic incentives
- Risk assessment and management strategies
Despite significant technological progress, challenges include high implementation costs, energy penalties reducing overall efficiency, scaling technologies to industrial levels, establishing sufficient CO₂ transport infrastructure, addressing long-term storage verification, and creating supportive policy frameworks with appropriate carbon pricing. Current development focuses on reducing capture costs through advanced materials, implementing modular designs for diverse applications, developing direct air capture technologies, expanding utilization pathways, and establishing large-scale demonstration projects that validate performance while building public confidence in long-term storage safety.
- CCUS Market News
- CCUS Market Map
- CCUS Company Profiles (including start-up funding)