UKCCSRC Conference 2026 – Plenary 5: What’s Next for CCS? (ECR Meeting Fund)

Kofo Awodun (Brunel University of London), Priyanka Thakur (Teesside University) and Shadi Samizadeh (University of Lincoln) share their takeaways from the “Plenary 5: What’s Next for CCS” session at the UKCCSRC Conference 2026.

The final plenary session of the UKCCSRC Conference explored one of the most important questions facing the carbon capture community: what comes next? Chaired by Jen Roberts (University of Strathclyde), the session brought together three speakers who examined the future of carbon capture from international, technological and strategic perspectives.

From lessons learned through global collaboration, to the rapid expansion of carbon capture in China and the future direction of engineered carbon removal, the session demonstrated that achieving net zero will require more than technological innovation. It will depend on collaboration across countries, sectors and disciplines to build an integrated carbon management system.

CCS moves from ambition to delivery: Key takeaways from Hannah Galbraith-Olive

Hannah Galbraith (Global CCS Institute) highlighted the rapid growth of the global carbon capture and storage (CCS) sector and the factors driving its expansion.

The presentation showed that CCS is reaching a significant inflection point, with the number of operational facilities increasing by 54% between 2024 and 2025, reaching 77 facilities worldwide. Global capture capacity continues to grow, with the overall project pipeline now standing at 513 Mtpa, reflecting strong momentum across the sector.

A central message was that policy remains one of the strongest enablers of CCS deployment. Regions with clear regulatory frameworks, financial incentives and supportive government policies consistently have larger and more advanced project pipelines. The data demonstrates a clear trend: where strong CCS policy exists, project development follows.

The presentation also explored how different regions are pursuing CCS deployment through distinct models:

• North America is driven by market-based financial incentives and established permitting frameworks.
• Europe relies on public funding and comprehensive regulatory support.
• The Middle East is advancing CCS through national oil company-led projects integrated with hydrocarbon production.
• Asia-Pacific is seeing growth through government-backed projects, although policy maturity varies across the region.

Despite these differences, all regions are working toward the same goal: achieving CCS deployment at gigatonne scale.

Hannah concluded by emphasising that the challenge is no longer simply developing individual projects. Future growth will depend on creating coordinated systems that connect capture, transport, storage, policy and finance. As CCS scales, infrastructure coordination and investment frameworks will be critical to accelerating deployment and supporting global net-zero ambitions.

The overall message was optimistic: CCS is moving beyond aspiration and into delivery, with growing project numbers, increasing capacity, and stronger policy support creating momentum for large-scale deployment.

Xi Liang highlights China’s growing CCUS ambitions and opportunities for UK-China collaboration

Xi Liang outlined the remarkable progress being made in carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) across China and highlighted the increasingly important role the technology is expected to play in delivering the country’s carbon peaking and carbon neutrality ambitions.

China’s current five-year planning period is expected to see substantial investment in CCUS, with dozens of large-scale projects under development across major industrial and energy-producing regions, including Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi. Liang demonstrated how carbon capture is moving beyond the demonstration phase and towards wider commercial deployment, particularly within the power generation, coal chemical and petrochemical industries.

A key theme throughout the presentation was scale. Several of China’s post-combustion carbon capture facilities are already among the largest operating worldwide, demonstrating how rapidly deployment is accelerating. Alongside conventional solvent-based capture technologies, research is also expanding into membrane separation, oxygen production and chemical looping, while increasing attention is being directed towards difficult-to-abate sectors such as cement, steel and petrochemicals.

Storage remains another major priority. Liang highlighted several onshore and offshore storage initiatives, including projects in Guangdong and the development of industrial storage clusters in coastal regions. While geological storage capacity is considerable, he emphasised that robust monitoring, reporting and verification systems, together with clear regulatory frameworks and long-term liability arrangements, will be essential for large-scale deployment.

The presentation also reinforced the long-standing collaboration between the UK and China on CCUS research. Universities, research organisations and industrial partners have worked together for more than two decades on technology development, pilot projects and policy research. Looking ahead, Liang suggested that future collaboration could focus on storage regulation, monitoring technologies, industrial deployment and supply-chain development.

Perhaps the strongest message from the presentation was that deep decarbonisation will be extremely difficult without CCUS. While renewable energy, energy efficiency and hydrogen will all contribute significantly towards reducing emissions, carbon capture remains an essential component of any credible pathway to net zero.

Mathieu Lucquiaud looks beyond capture technology to the future of integrated carbon management

Closing the session, Prof. Mathieu Lucquiaud shifted the discussion from individual capture technologies to the wider system needed for successful carbon management in the decades ahead.

The presentation began by introducing the role of Engineered Greenhouse Gas Removal (EGGR) in achieving net-zero emissions. While reducing emissions at source remains essential, Mathieu explained that carbon dioxide removal technologies will also be required to offset residual emissions from sectors where complete decarbonisation remains challenging.

One particularly interesting concept presented was co-DACCS, which combines Direct Air Carbon Capture (DAC) with conventional post-combustion carbon capture. Rather than treating these technologies independently, co-locating them allows shared infrastructure and utilities, improving efficiency while potentially reducing operating costs. It provided an example of how future carbon management systems may increasingly rely on integration rather than entirely new technologies.

The discussion then turned to one of the most significant challenges facing carbon capture: economics. Mathieu demonstrated that although increasing CO₂ capture rates reduces emissions, the cost of achieving each additional percentage of capture rises considerably. This reinforces the importance of balancing technical performance with economic viability when designing future CCS systems.

Another important topic was Waste-to-Energy with Carbon Capture and Storage (WECCS). Lifecycle assessment results illustrated how capturing CO₂ from waste-to-energy facilities can generate negative emissions while continuing to recover useful energy from waste streams. The approach demonstrates how waste management and carbon removal can complement one another as part of broader decarbonisation strategies.

The presentation concluded by emphasising that the future success of carbon capture depends on far more than capture technologies alone. Transport infrastructure, geological storage, supportive policy, investment frameworks and effective collaboration between academia, industry and government must all develop together if CCS is to achieve deployment at the scale required.

For many attendees, the key takeaway was that the future of carbon capture lies in building an integrated carbon management system. Advances in capture technology remain important, but equally critical are the connections between capture, transport, storage, carbon removal and policy that will enable these technologies to operate as part of a coordinated whole.

Mathieu Lucquiaud’s presentation showing the lifecycle assessment of two waste pathways

Looking Ahead

Although each speaker approached the question of “What’s Next?” from a different perspective, several common themes emerged throughout the session. Carbon capture is moving beyond isolated demonstration projects towards integrated deployment, requiring international collaboration, supportive policy, robust regulation and continued technological innovation.

Whether through global knowledge sharing, China’s rapidly expanding CCUS programme or the development of integrated carbon removal systems, the session highlighted that achieving net zero will depend not only on advancing individual technologies but also on building the interconnected infrastructure and partnerships needed to deploy them at scale.

As the 2026 UKCCSRC Conference came to an end, Plenary 5 provided a timely reminder that the next chapter of carbon capture is not solely about better capture processes, it is about creating a complete carbon management system capable of delivering meaningful climate impact.