How are carbon capture and storage technologies being deployed to mitigate climate change?

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is being used mainly to reduce emissions from large industrial facilities where replacing fossil fuels or changing the production process is difficult. It is a tool for specific sources of emissions, not a substitute for cutting emissions wherever cleaner options are available.

At a facility, equipment separates carbon dioxide from exhaust gases or, in some processes, captures it before it is released. The CO₂ is then compressed and transported—usually by pipeline, though ships can serve some projects—to a site where it can be injected deep underground for long-term storage. Suitable sites include deep saline rock formations and depleted oil and gas reservoirs. Operators monitor the storage area to check that the CO₂ remains contained.

Projects are concentrated in industries such as natural-gas processing, cement and steel production, and some chemical manufacturing. Capturing emissions at a single plant can be costly, so companies and governments are also developing carbon capture hubs: shared CO₂ transport and storage networks that can serve several facilities. These can make infrastructure more practical, but require permits, financing, public oversight, and careful selection of storage sites.

A separate approach, direct air capture, removes CO₂ from ambient air rather than from a plant’s exhaust. It can potentially remove emissions that are already in the atmosphere, but it currently requires substantial energy and is generally more expensive than capturing concentrated emissions at industrial sites.

Not every use of captured carbon provides permanent climate benefits. CO₂ used in products that soon release it again is different from CO₂ stored for the long term. CCS also does not make an emitting facility emissions-free: capture is incomplete, the equipment uses energy, and emissions from fuel supply and transport still matter. Its contribution depends on verified storage, sound monitoring, and being paired with broader emissions reductions.