CCUS Breakthrough: New Technologies Revolutionize Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage for Enhanced Environmental Impact

Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) is a comprehensive approach aimed at mitigating the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the environment. This technology involves capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions produced from industrial processes and power generation, utilizing the captured CO2 for various applications such as enhanced oil recovery or the production of valuable chemicals, and ultimately storing the remaining emissions underground to prevent their release into the atmosphere. CCUS plays a crucial role in reducing the carbon footprint of industries and power plants, contributing to global efforts to combat climate change. By addressing emissions at their source and exploring innovative ways to repurpose captured carbon, CCUS presents a multifaceted solution to the challenge of sustainable and environmentally conscious energy practices. The ongoing advancements in CCUS technologies hold significant promise for achieving a more sustainable and low-carbon future.

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, “Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021–2030,” the global carbon capture, utilization, and storage market was valued at $1.9 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach $7.0 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 13.8% from 2021 to 2030.

Carbon Capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is an emission reduction process, which is intended to prevent large amounts of carbon dioxide being released into the environment. The technology involves collection, transportation and injection of the carbon di oxide so that it would not escape in the atmosphere. The process involves three main steps and technologies such as capture, which includes separation of CO2 from gases produced from different procedures. Secondly, it involves transport, which is transportation of the captured CO2 to a suitable site for storage with the help of pipeline, trucks, and ships. The last step is storage, which involves injection of CO2 into underground rock formation, deep wells, and depleted reservoirs. These are the best storage options for storing huge amounts of CO2 for many years.

Demand for carbon capture, utilization, and storage has witnessed tremendous growth driven by increasing penetration in end-use industries such as oil & gas, power generation, iron & steel, chemical & petrochemical, cement, and others. All industry players are investing heavily to find new commercial avenues for their product segments via investment, contracts, and partnerships. For instance, Shell is a giant MNC and has undertaken several CCSU pilot projects which include the world’s largest CCSU project, in Alberta, Canada. As result of a partnership between Shell, Canada Energy and Chevron, Quest was formed, which is a fully integrated CCSU project. In the oil sands industry, Quest has come up as the first commercial application of CCSU. It has been designed to capture, transport and store deep underground above one million tons of carbon dioxide. Chevron is also leading a CCSU project, where natural gas will travel through undersea pipelines to a liquefied natural gas plant at the Gorgon gas fields in the Western Australia. Moreover, some of the major factors that drive the demand for carbon capture, utilization, and storage include growing focus on reducing CO2 emissions, supporting government initiatives and increasing demand for CO2-EOR techniques. However, high cost of carbon capture and storage and decreasing crude oil prices are expected to hamper the growth of the carbon capture, utilization, and storage market during the forecast period. Furthermore, large number of upcoming projects in Asia-Pacific and Europe region and continuous investments in developing innovative capturing technologies enabling economic operations are expected to provide growth opportunities for the carbon capture, utilization, and storage market during the forecast period.

By service, the global carbon capture, utilization, and storage market size is studied across capture, transportation, utilization, and storage. The capture segment accounted for the largest market share in 2020, owing to increase in adoption of this service due to surge in CO2 emission from various industrial verticals such as oil & gas, power generation, iron & steel, chemical & petrochemical, and cement. The capture segment dominated the global carbon capture, utilization, and storage market with more than two-third of the total market share in 2020.

By technology, the global carbon capture, utilization, and storage market is studied across pre-combustion capture, oxy-fuel combustion capture, and post-combustion capture. The post-combustion capture segment accounted for the largest market share in 2020, owing to surge in adoption of this technology from coal and gas power generation plants across the globe to capture the carbon and to reduce the carbon foot print. The post-combustion capture segment dominated the global carbon capture, utilization, and storage market with more than two-fifths of the total market share in 2020.

By end-use industry, the global carbon capture, utilization, and storage market is studied across oil & gas, power generation, iron & steel, chemical & petrochemical, cement, and others. The oil & gas segment emerged as a leader in 2020, owing to surge in consumption of carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery. The oil & gas industry segment dominated the global carbon capture, utilization, and storage market with more than half of the total market share in 2020.

Region-wise, the global carbon capture, utilization, and storage market is studied across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. North America accounted for a major carbon capture, utilization, and storage market share in 2020, and dominated the global market with more than two-fifths of the total market share in 2020.

The major players studied and profiled in the global carbon capture, utilization, and storage industry are Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Fluor Corporation, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Linde Plc, Exxon Mobil Corporation, JGC Holdings Corporation, Schlumberger Limited, Aker Solutions, Honeywell International Inc., and Halliburton. Other players operating in this market include C-Capture Ltd., Tandem Technical, Carbicrete, Hitachi, Ltd., Siemens AG, General Electric, Total S.A., and Equinor ASA.

COVID-19 analysis:

CCUS is primarily used across power plants and natural gas processing plants where COVID-19 has imposed a very minimal impact. However, due to lockdown imposed across various countries, it has impacted commercial sectors, such as cement plants, chemical plants, and others, which plays a very small role in the CCUS market and after the reopening of these industries also adapt to the changes quickly and started their operations after a couple of months of lockdown. However, the lockdown caused the delay for the upcoming projects, which has affected the growth of the CCUS market at a very small scale.

Key findings of the study

• In 2020, North America dominated the global carbon capture, utilization, and storage market with around 42.5% share, in terms of revenue.
• Europe is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 14.4% in terms of revenue.
• The capture service segment dominated the global carbon capture, utilization, and storage market with 70.0% of the share in terms of revenue.
• The post-combustion capture segment dominated the global carbon capture, utilization, and storage market with around 45.8% of the share in terms of revenue.
• The oxy-fuel combustion capture segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 14.4% in terms of revenue.
• The oil & gas segment dominated the global carbon capture, utilization, and storage market with 57.6% of the share in terms of revenue.