CCUS is a set of a low carbon technologies which capture carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from hard to abate industrial facilities.
These include power generation, iron & steel, fertilizer, cement & lime, chemicals. CCUS technologies can also refine or remove CO2 directly from the atmosphere by Greenhouse Gas Removal (GGR) / Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) methodologies.
The CO2 is then transported for utilisation or safe and permanent underground storage, preventing it from entering the atmosphere.
There are three stages to CCUS: capture, transport, and then either utilisation or safe storage.
Capture ‐ The first stage of the CCUS process is capturing the CO2. One way that CO2 can be captured is by extracting it from flue gas releases at emitting sources such as heavy industries. The three types of this capture method include: post-combustion, pre-combustion and oxyfuel combustion. The other way CO2 is captured is by removing it from the atmosphere using GGR / CDR technologies – these technologies include Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage (DACCS), Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) and Waste Energy with Carbon Capture and Storage (WECCS). These capture methods can capture more than 95% of CO2 on average
Transport ‐ The CO₂ is then compressed or liquified and transported to a suitable storage site or utilisation plant, through a pipeline, or by ship, road or rail transport, which together are referred to as non-pipeline transport (NPT).
Utilisation/Storage ‐ The CO₂ can be used to make low carbon products such as aggregates and building materials and fertilisers, but in most cases it is permanently stored through injection into a suitable offshore storage site deep under the seabed. The storage site is a carefully selected geological formation that ensures safe and permanent storage. Storage can either take place in depleted oil and gas fields, or deep saline formations.
CCUS technologies are well-established, available now, and essential for achieving net zero by 2050. The individual components of the CCUS chain have been successfully implemented worldwide for decades.
The CCS project pipeline has been growing at a compound annual rate of over 30% since 2017. In 2025, the Global Status of CCS 2025 report by GCCSI stated that a total of 77 commercial CCS projects are now in operation with a capture capacity of 64Million Tonnes per annum (Mtpa) – up 25% year on year. In addition, 47 projects are in construction, 610 in development and 734 in the pipeline, up 17% year on year.
Please see our case studies page for examples of CCUS projects and developments.
Greenhouse Gas Removal (GGR), or Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) technologies remove CO2 from the atmosphere. GGR/CDR mean we can achieve net zero emissions and potentially net negative emissions because they don’t just prevent CO2 reaching the atmosphere, they also remove CO2 that was already there. This is crucial for mitigating climate change by counteracting the warming effects of past and ongoing emissions.
DACCS: Direct air capture units use advanced filtration systems to separate and remove CO₂ directly from the atmosphere, which is then geologically stored deep underground.
BECCS: The process of capturing and permanently storing CO₂ captured from the combustion of biomass (such as sustainable wood chips and plant matter), for renewable energy generation. Plants absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere during their growth which would be released back into the atmosphere if plant waste was left to biodegrade. BECCS plants combust this waste material and capture the CO2 from this process which prevents it re-release into the atmosphere (permanently removing it) whilst also generating electricity.
WECCS: Energy from waste facilities incinerate non-recycled waste to generate electricity, preventing it from going into landfill. Around 50% of this waste is biogenic in origin (derived from organic/plant matter), so capture of this CO2 prevents it re-release into the atmosphere, removing it as with BECCS above.
CCUS is one of very few available technologies which can decarbonise hard-to-abate industries such as fertiliser, refining, cement, lime, chemicals, iron & steel enabling the production of low carbon.
It provides a source of flexible, low-carbon power generation, alongside renewables, which will make an important contribution to a resilient net zero power mix.
CCUS represents one of the main routes for producing low-carbon hydrogen, which can be used to decarbonise industry, industrial heating, as well as transport.
Included in CCUS technologies are greenhouse gas removals methods such as DACs, BECCS and WECCS which will be critical to meet climate goals.
No, CCUS is necessary to decarbonise many vital sectors beyond fossil fuel electricity, such as cement, lime, chemicals, fertiliser, refining, steel and energy from waste. It has an important role to play in decarbonising industry. It opens the door for low-carbon hydrogen, the production of sustainable materials, and unlocking engineered removals, ensuring that net zero can be achieved.
As we transition to a low carbon economy, we will still be reliant on oil and gas for years to come, for many of our essential products and as renewals continue to scale up and new technologies emerge. Therefore to avoid any more emissions being released into the atmosphere, we need to deploy CCUS to ensure we have a reliable and low carbon energy system.
CCUS has been used in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) projects, mainly in the US. All the European and UK projects that are moving towards deployment are not used for EOR.
We need to use all technologies available to reach net zero. All new technologies are initially expensive. However, as the industry builds the earliest CCUS projects in the UK and Europe (which are receiving private finance alongside government support), innovations and cost reductions will be delivered meaning that projects to follow will be cost effective. Tackling climate change is an enormous challenge and we will need all low-carbon technologies at our disposal.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated that by 2050, the cost of tackling climate change without CCUS could be 70% higher. They also estimate that to reach a 50% cut in global CO₂ emissions by 2050 (widely believed to be equivalent to limiting the increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees), CCUS will need to contribute nearly one fifth of emissions reductions – across both power and industrial sectors.
Yes, CCUS is a well-established, proven technology with nearly 30 years of demonstration in successful CO₂ storage operations. Globally, CCUS deployment has more than doubled over the last decade.
The North Sea’s Sleipner Project, in Norway, operational from 1996, was the world’s first commercial carbon capture project. It has shown that carbon capture technology can be applied on a large scale. Furthermore, it demonstrated that carbon capture can be viable with the gradual decline in the cost per tonne of carbon captured. Read more in this article.
The CCUS industry has many years’ experience of transporting and storing CO₂. The Sleipner CO₂ storage project in Norway was established in 1996 and is one of the world’s first projects dedicated solely to large scale CO₂ capture and permanent storage. The Sleipner project has now safely and permanently stored more than 20 MtCO₂ and continues to sequester over 1 million tonnes of CO₂ each year in a deep saline formation under the Norwegian North Sea.
Expertise gained from the oil and gas sector is being applied to the CCUS sector. Decades of subsurface knowledge is now being used for CO2 storage purposes, with skilled jobs transferring from the fossil fuel industry to the low-carbon economy.
The Global CCS Institute reports that in 2025 there are 734 CCUS projects in the global pipeline, including 77 operating facilities and 47 facilities under construction. In total, 610 projects are in advanced or early development, reflecting continued year-on-year growth in deployment.
Operating facilities currently capture around 64 million tonnes of CO₂ per annum (Mtpa), with total capture capacity across the pipeline reaching 513 Mtpa.
These facilities are located in the USA, China, Australia, the Middle East, Canada, the UK and Europe, with operations spanning a variety of sectors. Countries including Malaysia and Indonesia are seeking to develop all aspects of the CCUS value chain to manage domestic emissions and to receive CO₂ from jurisdictions without sufficient geological storage resources, storing it for a fee. Global CCS Institute Website