Startup landscape: Carbon capture, utilization & storage (CCUS) — the companies to watch and why

The carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) startup ecosystem has undergone a dramatic transformation since 2023. Global venture and growth-stage investment in CCUS companies reached $5.8 billion in 2025, up from $2.1 billion in 2023, driven by converging policy incentives, corporate net-zero procurement commitments, and technology breakthroughs that have materially reduced capture costs. The Asia-Pacific region has emerged as a critical battleground, with Japan, South Korea, Australia, and increasingly India deploying capital and policy support at scales that rival North American and European programs. For procurement leaders evaluating CCUS suppliers, offtake partners, or technology providers, understanding which companies are delivering real results versus operating on promise alone has become essential.

Why It Matters Now

Three structural shifts have reshaped the CCUS landscape since 2024. First, the US Inflation Reduction Act's enhanced 45Q tax credit ($85 per metric ton for geological storage, $60 per ton for utilization) created bankable revenue streams that transformed CCUS project economics. Japan's Green Transformation (GX) strategy allocated $150 billion over ten years for decarbonization, with CCUS as a priority category. Australia's Safeguard Mechanism reforms, which impose declining baselines on facilities emitting more than 100,000 tonnes of CO2 annually, have generated direct demand for capture technologies among industrial emitters.

Second, corporate procurement of carbon removal credits has matured. Frontier, the advance market commitment launched by Stripe, Alphabet, Meta, and Shopify, has contracted over $1.5 billion in carbon removal purchases through 2030, with CCUS-based approaches representing approximately 40% of committed volumes. Microsoft's carbon removal portfolio, targeting 3 million tonnes annually by 2030, has signed offtake agreements with multiple CCUS startups, providing the revenue visibility needed to secure project finance.

Third, capture costs have declined faster than most forecasts predicted. Direct air capture (DAC) costs fell from approximately $600 per tonne in 2022 to $250 to $400 per tonne for leading operators in 2025, with credible engineering analyses projecting $150 to $200 per tonne at scale by 2030. Point-source capture from industrial flue gases now costs $40 to $80 per tonne for concentrated streams (cement, steel, ammonia production), making it cost-competitive with carbon credit prices in compliance markets across the EU, California, and emerging Asia-Pacific schemes.

Landscape by Approach and Stage

Direct Air Capture (DAC)

Climeworks (Zurich, Switzerland; operating globally including partnerships in Asia-Pacific) remains the most advanced DAC operator, with its Mammoth plant in Iceland reaching 36,000 tonnes per year capacity in 2025. The company uses solid sorbent technology powered by geothermal energy, achieving a verified lifecycle carbon removal efficiency of 90%. Climeworks has signed offtake agreements with Microsoft, Swiss Re, and the Singapore government's carbon removal procurement program. Their modular container-based design enables deployment flexibility, though current costs of $300 to $350 per tonne limit competitiveness against cheaper point-source alternatives.

Carbon Engineering (now part of Occidental Petroleum's 1PointFive subsidiary) is constructing the world's largest DAC facility, STRATOS, in Permian Basin, Texas, targeting 500,000 tonnes per year capacity by late 2026. Their liquid solvent approach, using potassium hydroxide solutions, offers lower per-unit costs at scale ($200 to $250 per tonne projected) but requires significant water and energy inputs. The company has signed a landmark agreement with Airbus for sustainable aviation fuel production using captured CO2.

Heirloom Carbon Technologies (Brisbane, California) uses an innovative limestone-based approach where calcium oxide absorbs CO2 from ambient air, then releases it when heated in a kiln. The process leverages earth-abundant materials and existing kiln infrastructure, targeting costs below $100 per tonne at commercial scale. Heirloom delivered the first DAC-sourced carbon removal credits to the US government in 2024 and has raised over $600 million in combined equity and project finance. Their technology is particularly relevant for Asia-Pacific deployment given the regional abundance of limestone and existing cement industry kiln expertise.

Point-Source Capture

Carbon Clean (London, UK; with major Asia-Pacific operations) has emerged as the leading modular point-source capture provider, with over 50 installations across 12 countries. Their CycloneCC technology reduces the physical footprint of capture equipment by 50% compared to conventional amine scrubbing, while achieving 90%+ capture rates. In 2025, Carbon Clean commissioned its largest deployment at Tata Steel's Jamshedpur facility in India, capturing 100,000 tonnes of CO2 annually from blast furnace flue gas. The company's modular, skid-mounted systems reduce installation timelines from 36 months to 12 to 18 months, a critical advantage for industrial customers seeking rapid decarbonization.

Svante (Vancouver, Canada) uses a novel solid sorbent process based on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and a rotating bed contactor that dramatically reduces the energy penalty associated with conventional solvent-based capture. Svante's technology has been validated at Lafarge Holcim cement plants and is being deployed at a 300,000 tonne per year facility in partnership with Heidelberg Materials. Their Asia-Pacific strategy focuses on the cement and steel sectors, with pilot agreements in Japan and South Korea.

Aker Carbon Capture (Oslo, Norway) provides the Just Catch modular capture system, targeting mid-scale industrial emitters producing 40,000 to 200,000 tonnes of CO2 annually. Their standardized, factory-built modules reduce capital costs by 30% compared to bespoke installations. Aker has secured contracts for cement plant capture in Southeast Asia and is developing a CCS hub model for industrial clusters in the Kansai region of Japan.

CO2 Utilization

CarbonCure Technologies (Halifax, Canada) injects captured CO2 into ready-mix concrete during mixing, where it mineralizes permanently as calcium carbonate, simultaneously improving compressive strength by 8 to 12% and reducing cement content by 5 to 8%. The company has deployed at over 800 concrete plants globally, including partnerships with leading Asia-Pacific producers such as Taiheiyo Cement (Japan) and Dalmia Cement (India). CarbonCure's technology requires minimal capital investment ($100,000 to $250,000 per plant) and generates revenue through cement savings, making it one of the few CCUS applications with positive unit economics at current scale.

LanzaTech (Skokie, Illinois; major Asia-Pacific presence) converts industrial CO2-rich waste gases into ethanol and other chemicals using proprietary gas fermentation biology. The company operates commercial-scale facilities in China, India, and Belgium, with its Shougang Steel partnership in China converting steel mill off-gases into 60,000 tonnes of ethanol annually. LanzaTech's approach addresses a critical gap: CO2 utilization pathways that create durable products rather than fuels that re-release carbon when combusted.

Twelve (Berkeley, California) uses electrochemistry to convert CO2 and water into carbon monoxide, which serves as a feedstock for producing jet fuel, chemicals, and materials. The US Air Force has contracted with Twelve for E-Jet fuel production, and the company has partnerships with Mercedes-Benz for automotive components made from CO2-derived materials. Their process runs on renewable electricity and achieves 95% CO2 conversion efficiency at laboratory scale, though commercial-scale validation remains in progress.

CO2 Transport and Storage

Storegga (Edinburgh, UK; with Acorn CCS project) is developing CO2 transport and storage infrastructure in the North Sea, targeting 5 million tonnes per year storage capacity by 2030. Their Acorn project repurposes existing oil and gas pipeline infrastructure, reducing capital costs by 40 to 60% compared to greenfield development.

Santos (Adelaide, Australia) operates the Moomba CCS project in South Australia, injecting CO2 from natural gas processing into depleted gas reservoirs. The project stores 1.7 million tonnes of CO2 annually and represents the largest operational CCS facility in the Asia-Pacific region. Santos has committed to expanding storage capacity and accepting third-party CO2 volumes, positioning Moomba as a regional storage hub.

Japan CCS Co. (JCCS) leads the Tomakomai CCS demonstration project in Hokkaido, which has successfully stored over 300,000 tonnes of CO2 in sub-seabed geological formations since 2019. JCCS is scaling this approach through the Hokkaido CCS Hub concept, targeting 3 million tonnes per year by 2030 with participation from ENEOS, JERA, and Idemitsu.

Startup Landscape: Key Metrics

Company	Approach	Stage	Capacity (t CO2/yr)	Cost ($/tonne)	Key Markets
Climeworks	DAC (solid sorbent)	Growth	36,000	300-350	Global
Heirloom	DAC (limestone)	Growth	10,000	150-250 (target)	US, Asia-Pacific
Carbon Clean	Point-source (modular)	Scale	2M+ (installed)	40-60	India, SE Asia, EU
Svante	Point-source (MOF)	Growth	300,000 (pipeline)	50-70	Japan, S. Korea, NA
CarbonCure	Utilization (concrete)	Scale	800+ plants	Net positive	Global
LanzaTech	Utilization (gas fermentation)	Scale	60,000+ (ethanol)	60-90	China, India, EU
Twelve	Utilization (electrochemistry)	Early growth	Pilot	200-400	US, EU
Santos (Moomba)	Storage	Operating	1.7M	20-30 (storage only)	Australia

What Procurement Leaders Should Evaluate

For organizations procuring CCUS credits, technology, or offtake agreements, five evaluation criteria distinguish viable suppliers from those carrying excessive technology or execution risk.

Verification and MRV maturity. Credible CCUS providers employ third-party measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems aligned with ISO 14064 or equivalent standards. Companies relying solely on engineering estimates without independent field verification should be treated with caution.

Unit economics at current scale. Request audited cost-per-tonne data at current operating capacity, not projected costs at future scale. The gap between current and projected economics frequently exceeds vendor representations.

Permanence and liability. For geological storage, evaluate the provider's long-term monitoring commitments and liability frameworks. Australian and Japanese regulations require post-injection monitoring for minimum periods (15 to 20 years), but contractual frameworks for permanence guarantees vary significantly between providers.

Energy source and lifecycle emissions. A CCUS system powered by unabated fossil energy may capture less net CO2 than claimed. Request lifecycle assessments that account for energy inputs, transport emissions, and upstream supply chain impacts.

Offtake contract structure. Evaluate whether the provider has binding offtake agreements with creditworthy counterparties. Pre-revenue companies without contracted volumes carry significantly higher execution risk than those with committed buyers.

Action Checklist

• Map organizational CO2 reduction targets against available CCUS approaches (DAC vs. point-source vs. utilization)
• Request third-party verified cost and performance data from at least three CCUS providers before contracting
• Evaluate CCUS credit purchases against permanence standards (1,000+ year storage) and MRV rigor
• Assess Asia-Pacific regulatory incentives (Japan GX, Australia Safeguard Mechanism, South Korea K-ETS) for project co-investment opportunities
• Engage with CCUS hub developers (Moomba, Tomakomai, Acorn) for shared infrastructure access that reduces per-unit storage costs
• Include CCUS technology monitoring in quarterly procurement reviews as costs and capabilities evolve rapidly
• Negotiate price adjustment mechanisms in multi-year CCUS offtake contracts to reflect declining technology costs

Sources

• International Energy Agency. (2025). CCUS in Clean Energy Transitions: Global Status and Investment Outlook. Paris: IEA Publications.
• Global CCS Institute. (2025). Global Status of CCS 2025: Annual Report. Melbourne: GCCSI.
• BloombergNEF. (2025). Carbon Capture Market Outlook: Investment, Costs, and Deployment Projections. New York: Bloomberg LP.
• Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. (2025). Green Transformation Strategy: CCUS Implementation Roadmap. Tokyo: METI.
• Frontier Climate. (2025). Advance Market Commitment: Portfolio Report and Carbon Removal Procurement Insights. San Francisco: Frontier.
• Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. (2025). Safeguard Mechanism Reforms: Compliance Pathways and CCS Eligibility. Canberra: DCCEEW.
• Santos Limited. (2025). Moomba CCS Project: Operational Performance and Expansion Plans. Adelaide: Santos.