What is the latest update in the CCUS market?

The CCUS market had a busy Q1 2026, with major policy moves, infrastructure milestones, and new partnerships reshaping the landscape.

We constantly update this blog post so you always have the freshest picture of what is happening in carbon capture, utilization, and storage.

Below you will find the latest news, funding signals, company updates, and regulatory changes that matter most for the CCUS market right now.

And if you want to better understand this new industry, you can download our pitch covering the CCUS market.

Summary table of the most important updates in the CCUS market

We define the CCUS market as the set of products and services that enable capturing CO2, conditioning it, moving it, and then either using it or storing it to prevent atmospheric release.

We include CO2 capture (point-source and direct air), compression/conditioning, CO2 transport infrastructure and services, utilization pathways, and geological storage (including monitoring and verification directly tied to storage or durable utilization).

We exclude general decarbonization advisory, corporate carbon accounting not tied to specific CCUS projects, trading of carbon credits as a standalone activity, and CO2 uses that are primarily for short-lived consumption without durable storage.

You can also get all the latest market news for the month here.

Piece of news	Category	Date	Source
India put roughly $2.4 billion behind CCUS in its 2026-27 budget	Regulations & Policies	February 1, 2026	India Budget
The EU set the world's first standard for permanent carbon removals	Regulations & Policies	February 3, 2026	European Commission
Air Liquide and Holcim signed a CCS deal for a cement plant in Belgium	Partnerships	February 27, 2026	Air Liquide
Porthos got its offshore wells ready for CO2 injection in the Netherlands	New tech and infrastructure	February 5, 2026	Porthos
Saudi Arabia and Climeworks deepened their DAC partnership	Partnerships	February 24, 2026	Climeworks
Lapis and Big River filed a Class VI permit for 725,000+ tons per year of CO2 storage	Company updates	February 17, 2026	Lapis Carbon Solutions
The UK opened a consultation on non-pipeline CO2 transport rules	Regulations & Policies	February 5, 2026	GOV.UK
Holcim invested directly in carbon capture tech supplier Capsol	Strategic Investments	January 27, 2026	Cision News
Saipem and Capsol teamed up on industrial-scale CO2 capture projects	Partnerships	March 4, 2026	Cision News
California backed Blue Planet's carbon mineralization pilot project	Strategic Investments	March 12, 2026	California Energy Commission
Bain bought 9,000 metric tons of DAC carbon removal credits from 1PointFive	Customer wins	January 13, 2026	1PointFive
ABB launched an integrated measurement solution for carbon capture compliance	Product launches	February 18, 2026	ABB

How is the CCUS market doing now?

How do we define the CCUS market?

We define the CCUS market as the set of products and services that enable capturing CO2, conditioning it, moving it, and then either using it or storing it to prevent atmospheric release.

We include CO2 capture (point-source and direct air), compression/conditioning, CO2 transport infrastructure and services, utilization pathways, and geological storage (including monitoring and verification directly tied to storage or durable utilization).

We exclude general decarbonization advisory, corporate carbon accounting not tied to specific CCUS projects, trading of carbon credits as a standalone activity, and CO2 uses that are primarily for short-lived consumption without durable storage.

This is also the definition we use in our report covering the CCUS market.

How big is the CCUS market in 2026?

We estimate the CCUS market is worth approximately $12 billion in 2026, with a reasonable range of $8 billion to $16 billion depending on how broadly you count infrastructure spending.

This is not a random guess, if you want to know how we have come up with this estimate, you can read our CCUS market size analysis here.

To give you a sense of scale, the CCUS market in 2026 is roughly the same size as the global cybersecurity hardware market at around $12 billion or the smart home devices market at about $13 billion.

The CCUS market scores 35 out of 100 on maturity because most projects are still in planning stages, 70 out of 100 on competitiveness because many capture technologies and storage hubs are competing for share, and 60 out of 100 on fragmentation because capture has many vendors while transport and storage are starting to consolidate.

How fast will the CCUS market grow in the future?

We estimate the CCUS market will grow at roughly 18% per year from 2026 to 2036, which sits above the most conservative forecasts of 7% to 13% but below the most aggressive ones at 24% or higher.

At that pace, the CCUS market should reach approximately $23 billion by 2030 and roughly $63 billion by 2036, meaning the market could be more than five times larger than it is today within a decade.

That growth trajectory is similar to what other policy-driven infrastructure markets like solar or battery storage experienced when they moved past the pilot stage and into large-scale buildout.

What does current funding activity look like in the CCUS market?

Our team, who continually updates our CCUS market pitch deck, is keeping a close eye on the market and tracking key signals.

One of those signals is fundraising activity across startups. Each month, we refresh this page with a list of startups of the CCUS market that have raised funding, and we also publish a quarterly analysis here.

Is funding momentum accelerating or cooling in the CCUS market these days?

In Q1 2026, we tracked notable fundraising activity in the CCUS market including seed rounds and strategic investments, though detailed quarter-over-quarter comparisons are available in our full quarterly funding analysis.

Compared to Q1 2025, the CCUS market continues to attract capital across both early-stage startups and growth-stage infrastructure plays, with investors showing sustained interest in capture materials, novel storage pathways, and measurement tools.

Deal sizes in the CCUS market this quarter ranged from seed rounds like pHathom's $4 million close to strategic investments by industrial giants like Holcim, suggesting that both venture-scale and corporate capital remain active in carbon capture funding.

Which categories and business models are attracting capital in the CCUS market?

These categories and business models of the CCUS market are receiving important fundraising currently:

• Capture materials and sorbents: Immaterial added more investors to its Series A2 round for its MOF-based capture platform, showing that core materials innovation still attracts capital in the CCUS market.
• Novel storage pathways: pHathom closed a $4 million seed round for coastal carbon storage, pushing total committed capital past $12 million in a newer CCUS market segment.
• Strategic corporate investments: Holcim invested directly in Capsol to scale hot potassium carbonate capture technology, a sign that industrial buyers are putting equity into CCUS market suppliers, not just signing vendor contracts.
• Durable utilization: California backed Blue Planet's mineralization pilot with a grant, supporting one of the more credible utilization pathways in the CCUS market where carbon stays locked in building materials.

The pattern in Q1 2026 is clear: CCUS market investors are backing companies that solve specific cost or infrastructure bottlenecks rather than chasing broad platform plays.

Who's writing the most checks in the CCUS market?

These investors are being very active when it comes to fundraising in the CCUS market:

• Holcim is a strategic corporate investor that backed Capsol directly and signed a CCS agreement with Air Liquide, making the cement giant one of the most active industrial capital deployers in the CCUS market this quarter.
• California Energy Commission is a public funder that approved grant support for Blue Planet's carbon mineralization pilot, continuing to back first-of-a-kind durable utilization projects in the CCUS market.
• Ocean Supercluster supported pHathom's coastal carbon storage work alongside private investors, showing that public-private funding models remain important for newer CCUS market pathways.

The most active CCUS market investors in Q1 2026 were not traditional venture capital firms but industrial corporates and public institutions putting money where deployment bottlenecks are real.

Any big acquisitions or IPOs in the last three months in the CCUS market?

There hasn't been any big acquisitions or IPOs during Q1 2026 in the CCUS market.

How are companies in the CCUS market performing overall?

We are watching this market everyday, because we need to constantly update our pitch deck. Here is a couple of things we have noticed.

Are there any standout success metrics or financial results in the CCUS market?

There were no major earnings releases or detailed financial results published during Q1 2026 in the CCUS market, but several operational milestones stood out:

• 1PointFive signed a deal with Bain for 9,000 metric tons of DAC-based carbon removal credits over three years, one of the clearest revenue signals in the direct air capture segment of the CCUS market.
• CarbonQuest landed its first Canadian carbon capture and sequestration project on gas compressors with Tourmaline and Cielo Carbon Solutions, proving its distributed capture model works on real midstream equipment.

These wins show that the CCUS market is moving from announcements to actual signed contracts and deployed equipment, which is what turns a promising sector into a real business.

Have there been any major partnerships in the CCUS market?

Q1 2026 was a strong quarter for partnerships in the CCUS market, with several deals that pair technology with delivery capability:

• Air Liquide and Holcim signed an agreement to develop carbon capture at Holcim's near-zero cement plant in Obourg, Belgium, targeting one of the hardest sectors to decarbonize in the CCUS market.
• RCJY and Climeworks deepened their partnership to study a DAC demonstration plant in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, pushing direct air capture into a major energy-producing region.
• Saipem and Capsol signed a cooperation agreement on industrial-scale CO2 capture using hot potassium carbonate technology, linking a capture innovator with a major engineering and construction firm.

The common thread across Q1 2026 CCUS market partnerships is pairing capture technology with companies that can actually build and operate projects at scale.

Have there been any notable technology or infrastructure breakthroughs in the CCUS market?

Yes, Q1 2026 brought real infrastructure progress in the CCUS market:

• Porthos announced that four former gas wells have been converted into CO2 injection wells in the Netherlands, with three other wells sealed and removed, making this one of the most tangible storage infrastructure milestones in Europe.
• ABB launched an integrated carbon capture measurement solution that connects with its CCS 360 digital platform, filling an important gap in compliance and monitoring tooling for the CCUS market.
• Lapis Carbon Solutions and Big River Resources submitted a Class VI permit application for a project targeting more than 725,000 metric tons of CO2 storage per year for 12 years in Illinois.

These milestones matter because they represent physical infrastructure getting built and permits getting filed, not just concept announcements in the CCUS market.

Have any companies restructured or shifted pricing or business model in the CCUS market?

We did not track any major restructurings, pricing shifts, or business model changes during Q1 2026 in the CCUS market.

Are there any other notable wins or successes in the CCUS market?

A couple of other wins stood out in the CCUS market during Q1 2026:

• Holcim invested directly in Capsol to scale hot potassium carbonate carbon capture technology, which is a stronger signal than a typical pilot deal because it means an industrial buyer is putting equity behind a CCUS market supplier.
• The California Energy Commission approved a grant for Blue Planet's carbon mineralization pilot, backing one of the more credible durable utilization pathways where CO2 gets locked into building materials.

Both wins reinforce a Q1 2026 theme in the CCUS market: the projects getting real support are the ones with clear paths to repeatable deployment, not just novel science.

What is the overall sentiment in the CCUS market right now?

Are there any notable recent opinion pieces, thought leadership about the CCUS market?

Yes, one notable opinion piece shaped sentiment in the CCUS market during Q1 2026:

• Wood Mackenzie published its 2026 carbon management outlook and argued that this year is pivotal for the CCUS market as major hubs move toward final investment decisions, but only projects with strong policy backing will break through.

Wood Mackenzie's take matches what the rest of Q1 2026 news showed: policy support is still the single biggest factor separating CCUS market projects that move forward from those that stall.

Are there any interesting and recent market research reports about the CCUS market?

Beyond the Wood Mackenzie outlook mentioned above, we did not track any other major standalone market research reports published specifically during Q1 2026 about the CCUS market.

Have there been any regulatory changes, policy updates, or new compliance requirements in the CCUS market?

Q1 2026 was one of the busiest quarters for CCUS market regulation in recent memory:

• India's 2026-27 budget allocated roughly $2.4 billion to a dedicated CCUS scheme, making it one of the largest single government commitments to carbon capture, utilization, and storage from any emerging economy.
• The European Commission adopted the world's first voluntary standard for permanent carbon removals, covering DACCS, BioCCS, and biochar, giving CCUS market developers and buyers clearer rules on what counts as a valid permanent removal.
• The UK government opened a consultation on non-pipeline CO2 transport, recognizing that trucks, ships, and intermediate storage can unlock earlier CCUS market deployment before full pipeline networks are built.

Three major economies moving on CCUS market policy in a single quarter is unusual and suggests that regulatory momentum is building faster than many expected.

Who is the author of this content?

NEW MARKET PITCH TEAM

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