According to BloombergNEF (BNEF) investments in carbon capture and storage (CCS) has more than doubled since last year, to hit a record high of $6.4 billion.
United States leads with 45% of global investment, but the regional split is far more even than in previous years. Asia Pacific regional investment surged to $1.2 billion off the back of projects in Australia and Malaysia. China has commissioned a pilot project to capture 0.2 million tons of CO2 per year at a petrochemical complex.
EU funding for CCS was mostly venture capital flowing into direct-air-capture companies like the Swiss Climeworks which secured $650 million recently. The EU put much of its funding toward industrial decarbonization, with $420 million invested in cement and steel projects.
On the other hand, specific countries like Germany are still working on their legislation to enable carbon storage. Particularly in the lime and cement industry. According to the Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, who is also member of the environmentalist Green party, "Germany is now working on a carbon management strategy in order to create the legislation for the use of such technologies in this year, by mid-2023.”. Agora Energiewende think tank, concerned with the delay, said in a report that Germany released the equivalent of 761 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2022.
US policy has been generous to CCS, which should lead to more investment in CCS projects in 2023. As the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors gains momentum and political support rises globally, BNEF expects CCS investment records to continue to be broken.
