From promise to practice: Scaling CCUS on existing industrial assets
Posted: February 23, 2026
As industries push toward net zero, carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is becoming essential for cutting emissions in hard-to-abate sectors.
Read on for:
What CCUS looks like in practice—from capture to use or storage
Where CCUS is being deployed today: Industries leading adoption
The integration challenge behind CCUS retrofits
The emerging ecosystem behind scalable CCUS:
- Airbridge (Australia): Uses advanced process simulation to scale carbon-to-commodity technology.
- SLB Capturi (global): Applies modular design and cloud-based engineering to speed carbon capture deployment.
As governments and industries ramp up efforts toward net-zero emissions, carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) has emerged as one of the most critical—and complex—decarbonization technologies in the energy transition. While renewable power, electrification, and energy efficiency are playing a growing role, they have not yet displaced the need for CCUS in sectors such as cement, steel, chemicals, refining, and power generation.[1] For these industries, CO₂ is often an unavoidable byproduct of core processes. CCUS offers a means to dramatically reduce emissions while allowing existing assets, skills, and infrastructure to remain viable.
Momentum around CCUS is growing. Dozens of large-scale projects are under development globally, supported by new policy incentives, carbon pricing mechanisms, and corporate net-zero commitments. But scaling CCUS from pilot projects to reliable, and financially feasible industrial systems, remains a major challenge. The real test for CCUS isn’t whether capture technology works—it’s whether these systems can be integrated into existing industrial assets reliably, safely, and at scale.
What CCUS looks like in practice: From capture to use or storage
To understand why scaling CCUS is such a challenge, it helps to start with what these systems actually involve in practice. CCUS is a suite of technologies that capture carbon dioxide emissions from industrial processes or power generation, then either reuse the CO₂ or permanently store it underground.
The value chain typically includes three core stages:
- Capture: CO₂ is removed from exhaust gases using technologies that trap the carbon dioxide—such as liquids that absorb it or materials that filter it out—before the gas is released into the air.
- Transport: After capture, CO₂ is compressed and moved—by pipeline, ship, or truck—from the source to a site where it will be used or stored.
- Utilization or Storage: Captured CO₂ doesn’t have to go straight into storage. In some cases, it can be reused as an input for making new products, such as fuels, chemicals, or concrete. When reuse isn’t practical, the CO₂ is stored underground for long-term containment.
While the individual technologies are well established, integrating them into a reliable, cost-effective system—especially at scale—remains a significant undertaking.
Where CCUS is being deployed today: Industries leading adoption
45 commercial CCS facilities are operating globally, capturing around 50 million metric tons of CO₂ per year.[2]
- Most operating capture capacity is concentrated in natural gas processing and hydrogen production, where CO₂ separation is already embedded in existing processes.[3]
- Chemicals and cement account for the largest share of current CCUS activity outside oil & gas. Projects are moving beyond pilots into early commercial deployment, primarily through retrofits at existing plants.
- In steel and power generation, CCUS remains largely pre-deployment. Most projects are still being engineered and evaluated rather than built, with few installations in operation today.[4]
- Global CCS capacity is projected to more than triple by 2030, as a growing number of projects move from planning into construction.
Why CCUS retrofits are hard: Integration and operability
In the near term, CCUS will be largely deployed with existing industrial assets, rather than constructing new facilities. Retrofitting carbon capture into an operating facility is not a bolt-on upgrade. Capture systems change heat and mass balances, increase utilities demand, introduce new corrosion and materials challenges, and alter steady-state and transient behavior across the plant. All of this has to be managed while production, safety, and reliability remain non-negotiable.
That’s why the real challenge in CCUS isn’t the capture technology itself. It’s integration. Engineers and operators need to understand how a capture unit will interact with existing processes before it’s built, and how it will perform under real operating conditions once it’s online: load changes, solvent degradation, fouling, energy penalties, and maintenance constraints.
This is also what makes CCUS different from many other industrial upgrades. A poorly integrated system doesn’t just underperform. It introduces operational risk and long-term cost exposure. Without early validation and ongoing performance visibility, CCUS projects can quickly become expensive one-offs rather than scalable solutions.
The emerging ecosystem behind scalable CCUS
For most organizations, CCUS won’t be something they design in-house. That makes the role of specialist providers critical. Companies like Airbridge and SLB Capturi represent the next phase of CCUS deployment. That is, not designed not as a one-off project, but as scalable solutions that can be integrated into existing plants with greater speed, confidence, and consistency.
Airbridge: Scaling carbon capture solutions with advanced process simulation
Airbridge is an Australian innovator in a breakthrough technology that converts carbon emissions into commodities such as fertilizer and fuel additives. A key challenge for projects like Airbridge is managing the complexity of retrofitting capture systems into existing industrial environments while maintaining operational continuity.
In a pilot project, Airbridge used AVEVA™ Process Simulation to create a model of its new carbon conversion facility, including a detailed electrolyte thermodynamic feature that enables its team to accurately predict chemical reactions and CO2 recovery. This CO2 can then be repurposed into high-demand, high-value commoditized products for use in industries such as agriculture, mining, construction, manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.
AVEVA™ Edge allows Airbridge to unify project process data at scale from multiple sources, enabling it to cost-effectively monitor operations of its patented reactor. This data is organized and visualized in AVEVA™ Insight, where Airbridge’s teams can monitor and analyze asset performance, collaborating in real time in the cloud. This approach reduces project risk, shortens timelines, and builds confidence among investors and operators alike.
SLB Capturi: Modular solutions for carbon capture using the power of the cloud
SLB Capturi, formerly called Aker Carbon Capture, designs and builds facilities for companies in carbon-intensive industries, such as cement, steel, and oil and gas. AVEVA™ Unified Engineering in the cloud helps SLB Capturi create efficient and replicable designs for carbon capture units. By combining modular capture technology with integrated digital solutions, SLB Capturi is able to reduce engineering hours, increase transparency, and enable collaboration across teams. This has resulted in operational efficiency and sped up time to market by over 50%.
Using AVEVA™ E3D Design has been a super important part of our engineering process. We have found that it improves efficiency in terms of how we work together. It’s a modular process, so that makes it easy for us to adjust to client needs. There are also clear benefits in terms of cyber security.
Industrial growth and decarbonization advancing together
CCUS is no longer a niche technology. It’s a cornerstone of credible net-zero strategies for many industries. Yet its success depends on more than capture chemistry alone. Scaling CCUS requires integrated systems, robust data, and the ability to manage complexity across the full asset life cycle. The ability to design, simulate, and operate CCUS as an integrated system is emerging as a decisive differentiator.
Through its comprehensive portfolio, AVEVA plays a critical role in helping organizations move from CCUS ambition to execution. AVEVA is helping companies build a future where industrial growth and decarbonization can advance together.
Ready to learn more about innovative CCUS technology?
[1] World Economic Forum. Defossilizing Industry: Considerations for Scaling-up Carbon Capture and Utilization Pathways. Cologny, Switzerland: World Economic Forum, September 22, 2025. https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Defossilizing_Industry_Scaling-up_CCU_2025.pdf
[2] Global CCS Institute. Global Status of CCS 2024. Global CCS Institute, 2024, www.globalccsinstitute.com/resources/global-status-of-ccs-2024/.
[3] International Energy Agency. “CCUS projects around the world are reaching new milestones.” IEA, April 30, 2024.
www.iea.org/commentaries/ccus-projects-around-the-world-are-reaching-new-milestones
[4] International Energy Agency. Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage. IEA, 2024.
www.iea.org/energy-system/carbon-capture-utilisation-and-storage
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