Capture

Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage, or CCUS, is a process that will allow industries that emit carbon dioxide (CO₂) to both maintain their business plans and reduce CO₂ emissions. First, it uses special equipment to remove the CO₂ from their facilities’ exhaust before it reaches the air. Once captured, the CO₂ can either be provided to companies for other uses or transported by pipeline to underground geologic formations certified safe and permanent storage. The same type of impermeable rock layers that have kept oil and natural gas locked underground for millions of years can safely store CO₂.

Capturing CO₂ commonly involves trapping a facility’s exhaust, filtering the exhaust and separating the CO₂ from the other gases created from the manufacturing process. Once it is separated, the CO₂ is then treated, compressed and placed into a pipeline for transport.

According to the Global CCS Institute’s 2022 Global Status of CCS Report, as of July 2024, there were 50 carbon capture plants in operation around the world, with a capacity to capture nearly 49 million tons of CO₂ per year, with another 444 under construction and more than 500 in development.