Carbon capture and storage (CCS) - statistics & facts
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is seen by many experts as a vital tool in combating climate change. CCS technologies are considered especially important for hard-to-abate industries that cannot be easily replaced by electrification, such as oil and gas, iron and steel, and cement and refining. However, CCS is still very much in its infancy, capturing just 0.1 percent of global CO₂ emissions per year. The industry now faces enormous challenges to reach the one billion metric tons needing to be captured and stored by 2030 and live up to the hype.
Despite these challenges, progress is being made. If they can mature at a more rapid pace, CCS technologies could play a key role in the energy transition and helping the world achieve its climate targets.
What is carbon capture and storage?
CCS involves capturing CO₂ at large point sources, such as exhaust streams from power stations, and transporting it to storage deep underground, thereby reducing emissions to the atmosphere. The majority of CO₂ is currently captured and stored from industrial facilities, with natural gas processing plants accounting for around 65 percent of global capture capacity. Although the term CCS is often used interchangeably with carbon dioxide removal (CDR), there are differences between the two, with CDR mainly focused on removing historical emissions from the atmosphere.Carbon capture capacity continues to expand
The capture capacity of operational CCS facilities worldwide increased from 28 MtCO₂ per year in 2014 to around 50 MtCO₂ in 2024. Meanwhile, the capacity of CCS facilities under development or in construction has risen to more than 300 MtCO₂ per year. As of 2024, the United States had the largest number of CCS projects in the pipeline, by far, with 231 across various stages of development, 17 of which were operational. The recent expansion of CCS has been driven by developments in global policies and regulations - notably the U.S.’ Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – that have made the technology more attractive to investors. This has seen global investment in CCS more than quadruple since 2020, to roughly 11 billion U.S. dollars in 2023.CCS challenges and outlook
Although the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stressed that CCS will be crucial to reaching net-zero emissions by mid-century, levels of deployment have been slow. The high cost of implementation is one of the biggest challenges facing the scaling up of the industry. As it stands, assuming all current and planned projects advance, the CO₂ capture capacity of large-scale CCS facilities would reach 435 MtCO₂ by 2030, which would still leave a gap of some 600 MtCO₂ to be aligned to net-zero emissions by 2050. To fill this gap, estimates state that annual global investment in CCS will need to average around 500 billion U.S. dollars between 2024 and 2030, a 45-fold increase from current levels.Despite these challenges, progress is being made. If they can mature at a more rapid pace, CCS technologies could play a key role in the energy transition and helping the world achieve its climate targets.
