Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) technologies involve the capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) from large emissions source points, typically industrial facilities, for later use, transportation, or storage. In recent research, global technology intelligence firm ABI Research forecasts that the CCUS market will increase from US$4.89 billion in 2024 to US$8.04 billion in 2030 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.7%. Growth in the market is expected to slow until 2026-2027 before accelerating as projects are completed and the number of new planned carbon capture projects increases.
“CCUS technologies are considered critical for achieving net-zero targets, having immense decarbonizing potential necessary for cutting hard-to-abate emissions from large industrial facilities. The CCUS market is being driven by a combination of rising global environmental concerns, regulatory initiatives for promoting sustainable industrial processes, and customer pressure to cut operational emissions,” explains Alex McQueen, Research Analyst at ABI Research.
North America holds the majority share of the CCUS market at US$2.47 million in 2024, with around 50% of current global operational capacity, and is expected to lead throughout the forecast period. The region has been pioneering CCUS with several large-scale projects in oil & gas facilities. Europe is expected to see the fastest growth between 2024 and 2030, with a CAGR of 35.2%, with the EU investing heavily through government initiatives like the Innovation Fund, which has granted US$1.5 billion toward CCUS demonstration projects.
From an industry perspective, most projects have been integrated into oil & gas and chemical facilities, with the expectation that use cases in the highly polluting steel and cement industries will increase as the technology develops. Global industrial leaders such as Shell, BP, Honeywell, and Air Liquide are investing heavily in CCUS technology, developing a range of capture technologies and supporting transport and storage capacity growth. Demand for the technology has led to an increasing number of dedicated companies providing carbon capture technology. These include Aker Carbon Capture, Climeworks, and Carbfix.
“Despite being a key technological component of the global decarbonization strategy, current levels of adoption are considerably short of what is required in the Net-Zero Scenario. The current penetration of CCUS is limited by the high costs of equipment and energy needed for capture and compression, as well as long lead times for implementation. For CCUS to play its expected pivotal role in the energy transition, significantly higher capacity will be needed to increase CO2 capture rates. Costs of CCUS infrastructure will decline as innovation and technological developments increase, but achieving this will require billions, if not trillions, of investment. The effectiveness of carbon capture as a decarbonization tool will depend on its development over the next decade,” concludes McQueen.
These findings are from ABI Research’s Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage market data report.
