McKinsey urges massive scale-up in carbon capture technology
Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies must grow by 120 times by 2050 for countries to meet their net-zero commitments, according to McKinsey.
Its study Scaling the CCUS industry to achieve net-zero emissions says that these technologies must reach at least 4.2 gigatons of carbon captured per year, with some estimates putting the figure at six–10 gigatons per year. This could lead to CCUS decarbonising 45% of remaining emissions in the industry sector. Even under conservative scenarios, CCUS will need to increase 60-fold on today’s pipeline of projects.
McKinsey says the CCUS industry has “struggled to find its footing” in the past 30 years, warning that its success and scaling-up are not guaranteed. It adds that the policy landscape is not encouraging in most markets, with a need for more direct and indirect incentives as well as targeted regulations.