Background to the Study

This analysis was undertaken by Jasmin Kemper of IEAGHG to help understand the main areas of research focus in the CCS sector and how that has changed over time and to observe the trajectory over the last decade.

This technical review provides an insight into how the focus of research in the field of Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) has evolved across a decade, from 2012–2022. It is designed to help understand where the most research has been conducted and to see where CCUS research is going.

This document achieves this through analysis of abstracts submitted to the Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies (GHGT) conference series as a quantitative analogue for the focus of research within the year it was submitted. GHGT is the largest international conference for CCUS, following the merging of earlier conference series in 1997: the International Conference on Carbon Dioxide Removal (ICCDR), and Greenhouse Gas: Mitigation options.

This review finds that of there has been a definite shift in research focus across the decade. The greatest percentage increase of abstracts submitted belong to the following topics: “Legal & Regulatory Aspects of CCS & long-term liability of CO2 storage” (+287.5%), “Towards negative CO2 emissions” (+252.9%), and finally to “CCS for industrial sources (non-power) & Hydrogen” (+240.9%).

The greatest percentage decrease of abstracts submitted belong to the following topics: “CCS technology assessment, cost, and system integration” (-72.0%), “CO2 utilisation for GHG mitigation” (-62.3%), and finally to “Demonstration projects and major national and international demonstrations” (-47.4%).

The conclusion of this review discusses the results to help understand the evolution of CCUS research along its observed trajectory in the last decade.