ENERGY TRANSITION

The acronym is a catch-all for a suite of technologies designed to capture carbon dioxide from industrial sources or directly from the atmosphere. Once captured, it is then either reused in products or permanently stored underground in geological formations.

The process can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from sectors including cement, steel, power and chemicals, which are hard to decarbonise through electrification alone.

Under-utilisation Globally, there is a yawning gap between the potential and the operational capacity of CCUS. Only a fraction of potential CCUS capacity is operational today: approximately 50 million tonnes of CO₂ capture and storage capacity in early 2025.

The capacity is increasing slowly, with advocates hoping capture capacity under development could rise to 430 Mt CO₂ / year by 2030 if projects in early stages progress. Global CCUS deployment remains concentrated in a small number of countries and projects:

• The US leads with an expected 244.8 Mtpa of CCUS capacity across 266 projects by 2030

• The UK ranks second, with planned capacity of 107.9 Mtpa across 75 projects by 2030

• Canada, Norway and China also have significant pipelines.

68 February 2026