Carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) present an opportunity to reduce emissions from industrial supply chains by converting captured CO2 into valuable carbon-based products such as fuels, chemicals and building materials. The report in collaboration with Wood Mackenzie focuses on the challenges faced by innovators and first movers.
Policies currently favour carbon CCS over utilisation, however as momentum builds behind industrial decarbonisation, CCU merits thorough, context-specific consideration. CCU offers the potential to "defossilise" carbon-reliant industries – but for it to become viable, it requires supportive policy frameworks, patient capital and close collaboration across stakeholder groups.
The report analyses three specific barriers to progress: fragmented and inconsistent policy frameworks that heavily favour sequestration over utilisation; the “valleys of death” that emerging CCU companies face, impacted by long development timelines, high capital requirements and immature business models that lack well-defined routes to revenue; and the role of cross-sectoral collaboration in scaling-up nascent CCU technologies within large, mature industrial complexes.