Carbon capture technologies have been around for years, but their sophistication is advancing all the time. But what happens after carbon capture?

Carbon capture solutions, such as the use of solvents and membrane filtration technologies, have been around for some time. But these techniques are now being adapted to improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness as part of broader carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) strategies to manage and abate carbon emissions, particularly in heavy industries, and a number of technologies have been adopted in practice.

What are the different types of carbon capture?

Post-combustion capture is the most widely used for separating CO₂ from exhaust gases after the burning of fossil fuels for cement production, steel manufacturing, and others. This technology separates carbon dioxide (CO₂₎ from combustion gases, most commonly through chemical absorption, with solvents such as amines, which selectively absorb CO₂ from flue gas emissions. Filtration then protects the solvent from impurities in the flue gas, which in turn boosts the efficiency of carbon capture.

Pre-combustion capture separates CO₂ before the fuel combustion occurs. This technique is commonly used in plants where fossil fuels are converted into syngas — a mixture of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H₂), and CO₂. This technology boosts levels of both gases, allowing the hydrogen to be used as a clean fuel, if appropriate, and reaping greater carbon capture. Filtration then removes any impurities.

Oxy-combustion, meanwhile, is based on burning fossil fuels in pure oxygen (rather than air which contains nitrogen), making the CO₂ separation process easier. Direct air capture (DAC) enables carbon capture directly from atmospheric air using sorbent materials and solvents that have an affinity towards CO₂. Filtration plays a key role in the DAC process, with CO₂ reabsorbed multiple times to gain purity.

Post-combustion and oxy-combustion solutions can be fitted to new plants or retrofitted to existing plants. Pre-combustion methods require wider modifications and so are more suitable for new, or greenfield, sites. Currently, carbon capture technologies can catch around 90% of CO₂ from flue emissions. But research is underway to boost this and improve cost effectiveness.

Regarding CCUS project types, carbon capture projects are the most numerous, totalling 195 and representing 51.2% of all projects. Carbon capture also saw the largest increase in projects over 2024, with 41 new projects – compared to 40 new CCU projects.

The next stage of carbon capture: Storage or utilisation?

Once the carbon capture process is complete, it then needs to be stored, or utilised (turned into another material such as animal feed, building materials, or other products). But carbon capture storage has a number of challenges. First, the carbon needs to be transported to the storage site.

This is typically achieved by placing the gas under pressure and transporting it via pipelines. In turn this requires safety and reliability via constant monitoring. Second, the challenges of storage large amounts of CO₂ are considerable. It needs to be compressed and liquified before transport.

The larger challenge though is finding suitable locations to store the CO₂, which needs to be injected into deep geological formations, typically at depths of over 1km, such as depleted coal, oil, and gas reservoirs, or deep saline aquifers.

At the same time, these tend to be remote locations, which requires transportation over distance. On the plus side, many countries have ample locations to meet their climate change obligations.

But it means that the stored CO₂ is still in the broader environment for a longer period of time. However, an alternative strategy is carbon capture followed by carbon utilisation. It’s worth noting that in some cases carbon storage might be the best solution, and in others carbon utilisation may be the best option, depending on the situation and viability of each method. They are complementary solutions for carbon abatement and management.

Carbon capture and utilisation – CCU

CCU means that we seek to capture carbon and then utilise it by turning it into practical, useful products. For some time, the ability to perform this has been a goal, with numerous research projects seeking to convert concept into reality – and then into full-scale commercially viable solutions.

Until now. Remediiate is a scale-up cleantech company that offers innovative solutions for carbon capture and abatement. We’re the first to market with a CCU solution, proven at commercial scale, which enables emitters to abate carbon emissions, at source.

Our technology converts industrial CO₂ emissions into valuable products, saving emitters money, mitigating liabilities, and supporting compliance programmes — and generating significant revenue streams.

We capture industrial CO₂ emissions and use these to support the production and growth of micro algae through photosynthesis. The captured CO₂ is converted to carbohydrates, which results in an enriched algal offtake that can be harvested and utilised for a wide range of purposes, including animal feed, building materials, and more.

Remediiate makes decarbonisation not just achievable but also profitable due to carbon capture techniques, which are applied on site – no transportation required. Remediiate enables industry to achieve Net Zero targets with technology that captures carbon at source and creates value – providing an immediately viable complement to future CCS approaches as part of a diversified abatement strategy.

Our integrated stack covers the end-to-end process — from source material to capture to harvest — providing a complete Carbon Capture and Utilisation solution that can be deployed at the source of emissions. Our solutions perfectly complement CCS approaches, helping you to diversify your abatement strategies – but are deliverable today. Contact us to find out more.