Carbon Capture Market

Carbon capture refers to the idea of capturing the CO2 generated by burning fossil fuels or other chemical or biological processes so as to avoid its release into the atmosphere, thereby mitigating the effects of global warming. A host of technologies are used to trap CO2 from large point sources or directly from the atmosphere. This CO2 is then compressed and transported to a facility where it can be utilized, or a site where it can be permanently sequestered underground. To achieve global energy goals and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, carbon capture is expected to play an important role and is considered the only practical way to achieve deep decarbonization in the industrial sector. It allows for the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors and also aids in the production of blue hydrogen. Moreover, with the utilization of technologies like biomass energy and direct air capture, carbon capture can help achieve negative emissions. Carbon capture, coupled with utilization and storage technologies, can capture more than 90 percent of CO2 emissions from power plants and industrial facilities and can achieve 14 percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions reductions needed by 2050.

Carbon capture, based on technology, is categorized into pre-combustion, post-combustion, oxyfuel combustion, and direct air capture technologies. The pre-combustion technology gasifies fuel to produce carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen containing synthetic gas. The CO is converted to CO2 through a subsequent shift reaction and a physical solvent separates CO2 from the hydrogen. The post-combustion technology, on the other hand, is currently the most common one and typically utilizes chemical solvents to separate CO2 out of the flue gas from fossil fuel combustion. Conventional fossil-fuel power plants are increasingly being retrofitted with post-combustion carbon capture equipment to mitigate the problem of CO2 emissions. Furthermore, oxyfuel combustion technology involves the combustion of fuel in a pure oxygen environment to produce carbon-dioxide rich exhaust gas which can easily be condensed leaving a highly concentrated CO2 stream that can be easily captured without any contamination. Direct air capture technology can actually achieve negative carbon emissions as it directly extracts CO2 from the atmosphere by employing chemical and physical processes.

The carbon capture market, on the basis of separation technology, has been segmented into absorption, adsorption, membrane, cryogenic distillation, and other (biological processes, and calcium looping). Absorption can be physical or chemical and is the most common separation method. Chemical absorption involves the conversion of CO2 from gas to liquid phase, followed by a chemical reaction that results in CO2 in a bound form. The most common chemical absorbents include amines like MEA, DEA, and TEA. Physical absorbents include selexol and rectisol and it involves the absorption of CO2 in the physical absorbents in a high-pressure gas liquid contactor and flashed out in the medium and low-pressure flash tank. Adsorption involves the condensation of vapor and gases on the surface of a solid adsorbent as a result of molecular forces to separate gases, including CO2. On the other hand, the membrane provides a selective barrier that separates ingredients from the flue gas stream as it passes through the membrane to permeate at various velocities. Cryogenic distillation uses phase change to separate CO2 and other pollutants from exhaust or process gases.

Furthermore, based on end-user, the carbon capture market is classified into oil & gas, power generation, chemicals & petrochemicals, cement, iron & steel, and others (pulp & paper, mining, and food & beverages). The oil & gas industry has been at the forefront in capturing CO2 from natural gas processing facilities wherein naturally occurring CO2 is stripped from natural gas coming out of production wells. This step is essential if the natural gas is to be burned and used as a fuel. Globally, electricity in power plants is still primarily being generated from fossil fuel sources which lead to CO2 emissions. Hence, carbon capture provides a promising opportunity to reduce emissions from such power plants making the power generation sector among the top utilizers of carbon capture technologies. Similarly, carbon capture is also increasingly being utilized by the chemicals & petrochemicals sector which relies on polluting fossil fuel feedstock for producing various chemicals and materials. The cement sector is the largest industrial carbon emitted in the world. Thus, carbon capture can assist in the decarbonization of this sector. With around 75% of steel made in coal-fired blast furnaces, the iron & steel sector is also amongst the largest industrial emitters of carbon. Deployment of carbon capture technologies can hence mitigate emissions from the iron & steel sector as well.

The global carbon capture market can be segmented into North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America and Europe, currently, are the dominating regions in the world with a high concentration of carbon capture projects, aided by favorable governmental legislations and policies. There is a record 66 carbon capture project announcements in North America alone in 2022. The Asia Pacific region produces the highest carbon emissions and has a high growth potential for carbon capture during the forecast period. The region is rapidly catching up with a growing project pipeline, especially in Australia and Japan. The Middle East & Africa region, with a focus on blue hydrogen production, is also a major region when it comes to the deployment of carbon capture technologies with countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar increasingly investing in carbon capture. Several South American countries are coming up with emission reduction strategies that include carbon capture as a key technology to achieve decarbonization.

The major players in the carbon capture market are Occidental (US), Shell plc. (UK), Schlumberger (US), Linde Engineering (Ireland), Saipem (Italy), Baker Hughes (US), Aker Carbon Capture (Norway), CarbonFree (US), Air Liquide (France), Climeworks (Switzerland), Carbon Engineering (Canada), Carbon Clean (UK), Honeywell (US), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan), LanzaTech (US), NET Power (US), Petrobras (Brazil), Global Thermostat (US), Air Products (US), C-Capture (UK), and Svante (Canada).