The first annual report by new consortium the London Register of Subsurface CO₂ Storage reveals that over 383mn tonnes of CO₂ have been removed from the atmosphere by CCS since 1996 – the equivalent of 81mn petrol-powered cars driven for one year.  

The researchers, led by Imperial College London, say the report provides unequivocal evidence that the technology is an essential tool, operating at the scale needed to tackle climate change. They say it shows that CCS isn’t a concept for the future, but a proven, scalable technology operating effectively today.

‘The central message from our report is that CCS works, demonstrating a proven capability and accelerating momentum for geologic storage of CO₂,’ comments Professor Samuel Krevor, Director of the Register from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London.

‘We have found that industrial-scale carbon management is already a reality and can safely sequester CO₂ deep underground. This will be a key strategy – alongside vital efforts to cut emissions – for decarbonising hard-to-abate industries and cutting the total CO₂ in the atmosphere.’  

The report finds that large-scale projects launched in the last decade, in the US, China, Brazil, Australia and the Middle East, have driven the average annual growth rate of CCS to 9.2%, and a record 45.2mn tonnes were safely stored in 2023, marking a significant increase of 8.4mn tonnes from the previous year.

Projects that are leading the charge include the Seminole San Andres Unit in the US and the Santos Basin pre-salt oil field in Brazil, which injected 3.9mn tonnes and 13mn tonnes, respectively, in 2023, accounting for more than a third of all storage that year.

Although the report noted that 2024 data is still incomplete, early indications suggest continued growth, particularly in Brazil and China. Meanwhile, different nations with different geologies and industrial bases have also been able to successfully deploy CCS locally.

Professor Krevor comments: ‘Storage rates like these are comparable to the emissions mitigated by other renewable and decarbonisation technologies. For example, the total stored in 2023 alone amounts to the emissions avoided by all the renewable energy produced in Australia or Italy, or two thirds of the renewable energy produced by the UK, in the same year.

However, to keep global warming below the 1.5°C pledged by the Paris Agreement, all reasonable projections suggest that the technology must scale-up to one billion tonnes (gigatonne) of CO₂ storage or more per year by 2050.  

‘What we are seeing in this data is that CCS project development is achieving lift-off around the world and is putting us on the track to achieve these large scales of deployment within the required timescales. This depends on the maintenance and expansion of policies that enable CCS deployment; the consistent performance and expansion of these major sites around the world should provide the confidence needed for policymakers and investors to support the next wave of CCS development and for industry growth to continue,’ concludes Krevor.

Qatar expands its CCS portfolio with a 4.1mn t/y project

QatarEnergy has awarded Samsung C&T Corporation the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for one of the world’s largest CCS projects. Designed to support the company’s existing LNG production in Ras Laffan Industrial City, the new installation will capture and store up to 4.1mn t/y of CO₂.

The company has been steadily building its CCS portfolio since launching its first project in 2019, which has a capacity of 2.2mn t/y. Two further projects are under way to serve the North Field East and North Field South expansions, set to capture 2.1mn t/y and 1.2mn t/y of CO₂ respectively.

With all LNG expansion projects slated to incorporate CCS, QatarEnergy aims to capture more than 11mn t/y of CO₂ by 2035.

CCS appraisal well drilled in UK waters

Eni, the operator of the Bacton CCS project, has completed the first carbon storage appraisal well on acreage licensed by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) at the Hewett field in the Southern North Sea. The wider basin is estimated to hold up to 78 Gt of potential storage capacity in depleted reservoirs and saline aquifers – enough to store all the CO₂ emitted in the UK since the industrial revolution.

Located 18 miles off the Norfolk coast, Hewett was one of the UKCS’s longest-producing gas fields, delivering 3.5tn cf of gas before its permanent shutdown in 2023. The field is considered capable of storing up to 10mn t/y of CO₂.

Eni contracted the Valaris 72 rig to drill the appraisal well, with operations beginning in May 2025. Extensive data sampling was completed – including cutting 270 ft of core and carrying out a nitrogen injection test – before the well was plugged and abandoned.