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CCUS has been acknowledged in the context of the European Energy Union as a fundamental research and development priority to achieve 2050 climate objectives in a cost-effective way (European Commission, 2015). The European Green Deal included carbon capture, storage and utilisation in the technologies necessary toward a transition to climate neutrality (European Commission, 2019). More recently, the communication on Sustainable Carbon Cycles highlighted that available solutions based on resilient natural ecosystems and industrial carbon capture and storage (CCS) should be deployed in an efficient and sustainable way to mitigate emissions (European Commission, 2021a). 2021 has seen unprecedented advances for CCUS technologies. In this report, the sectors covered include power generation and industry. For the current analysis, given that industrial applications are also considered, the, so far, usual classification (pre-, post-, oxy- combustion) may not be representative. In industrial processes, CO2 may not come from fuel combustion but from the process itself such as for example, in calcination of calcium carbonate to give calcium oxide. As such, CO2 capture is defined by the separation technology involved. CO2 utilisation processes include the chemical transformation of CO2 into another product with commercial value. Enhanced oil recovery (EOR), and other uses, as in the food industry or as supercritical solvent, where CO2 is subjected to physical and long-term chemical changes, have not been considered in this report. The overview covers all applications, related to the synthesis of fuels, chemicals and materials. Regarding CO2 storage the focus is both on offshore and onshore aquifers, but also on considering alternative ways such as storage in basalts. On transport, both shipping and pipelines are considered. The review of each topic is organised following main blocks: (i) Literature review and technology analysis to depict the state-of-the-art of CCS and CO2 use technologies. (ii) Technology assessment based upon technology readiness level (TRL) evolution according to literature and to European R&D projects. The review of the technology status is based on different relevant sources such as subject matter books and scientific articles published in peer-reviewed journals; the SETIS webpage and associated SET Plan actions; the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF); online information from the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Global CCS Institute and the Global Status of CCS series, among others.
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