| Carbon capture and storage
Above: Carbon dioxide removal to 2050, by technology (MtCO2
/y). ©DNV 2025
Right: DAC energy use (GJ/tCO2
). Data source IEA. ©DNV 2025
around 88% from 1972 to 2022. Failure rates are higher in more recent years due to sectors with higher failure rates comprising a larger share of the total planned project pipeline. The research also shows, via analogue industries, that much stronger government support could reduce failure rates down to almost 45%. Historically, gas processing has dominated the CCS sector, comprising around 85% of installed capacity globally. Gas processing is a mature industry with more than 60 years of experience, a firm business case to achieve market specifications for gas, and close ties to gas and oil prices as most of the CO2
must be a means to cover the associated costs. This is typically provided through policy support. In the period 2010 to 2015, as governments adjusted their priorities following the global financial crisis, policy support for CCS projects often failed to materialise or was removed. For example, the removal of UK government financial support impacted investor sentiment and ultimately led to the cancellation of the White Rose project in 2015.
is used for
enhanced oil recovery. Gas processing projects have similar failure rates to other mature industries at around 40%.
In the past 25 years, other sectors have also deployed carbon capture and storage — predominantly in power and industrial processes. With emissions reductions a much less firm business case, and the technology still adapting to the very different conditions, the performance of these projects is far more variable.
Such projects have much higher historical failure rates, in excess of 70%, and require strong policy and financial support to succeed. One of the key reasons for project failure is a lack or removal of policy and/or financial support. For a CCS project to proceed, there
Cross-chain risk is another key issue as the different parts of a CCS value chain are often developed by different, but interdependent, parties. Many early CCS projects failed due to issues with a specific part of the value chain, for example, the Kemper project in 2017, which planned to capture CO2
from coal gasification.
The availability of cheap natural gas made the coal gasification process itself economically unattractive. This was compounded by both budget and construction issues. In some cases, stakeholder concerns of governments or the public have contributed to project failure. In 2010, the Barendrecht CCS project in the Netherlands was cancelled due to a combination of a change in consensus on the need for the project at the government level and local opposition. To avoid similar cancellations, CCS project developers must transparently engage with and consider the concerns of stakeholders.
Project performance
No two operational carbon capture projects are the same; project performance is highly project specific.
To investigate historical performance, DNV has developed a comprehensive database of annual and monthly carbon captured, as reported by operators, for over 30 operational projects globally. This represents over 90% of global carbon capture capacity and covers the period from 1986 to 2023.
The utilisation rate appears relatively variable in the 1980s and 1990s due to the outsized influence of one major project on the data. From the mid-1990s onwards utilisation has remained relatively stable at around 40 to 60%. DNV has found that the communication around carbon captured, capacity, and capture rates can be unclear, and the three terms are often used interchangeably.
The deep-dive into each project has addressed these issues to give accurate capacities. Between 1986 and 2023, the average utilisation rate (amount of CO2
reported captured
vs the reported capture capacity of a project) is 53%, and increases to around 60% in the most recent five years of data.
Excluding gas processing projects (as they have different economics and incentives), the utilisation rate drops to 46% between 2000 and 2023, with a value around 50% in the most
Reported capacity
recent five years of data. The total amount of CO2 captured in 2023 was around 33 Mt, with the majority of this used for enhanced oil recovery or vented. Of the total capacity, around 85% captures CO2
for EOR. Utilisation rate
Reported CO2 captured
The reasons behind the performance numbers are unique to each project, however one general observation is that gas processing projects connected to large gas fields tend to have higher utilisation rates with less variability. This is due to the constant production of gas, high CO2
need to remove CO2 .
concentrations in the feed gas, and a to meet technical product
specifications that is decoupled from a need to store CO2
Reported capacity, reported CO2 carbon capture projects. MtCO2
Source: DNV database. ©DNV 2025
captured, and utilisation rates of operational /y, left vertical axis. Percentages, right vertical axis.
A consistent approach to reporting operational performance and transparency regarding the data could offer significant benefits to the CCS industry.
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