Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) will be critical in driving the energy transition towards net zero globally and in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. APAC accounts for the bulk of global industrial emissions today, as it serves as the factory to the world. With energy demand expected to increase due to continued population and economic growth, APAC will need to find a viable pathway to net zero. CCUS emerges as one key solution.

Globally, CCUS is expected to reduce over 15% per cent of total emission needed under the 1.5o C scenario, especially from hard-to-abate industries. Although the technology has been around since the 1970s, the development of CCUS has been gradual and more linked to enhanced oil recovery.

The past couple of years have seen immense growth in the pipeline of CCUS projects – 25x since 2019 based on Wood Mackenzie’s Lens Carbon. This has been driven by a greater recognition of the role of CCUS in global decarbonisation and stronger government policy support. There is about 60 Mtpa of operational capacity globally today, most of which are driven by North America and Europe. All eyes are on the 1.2 Btpa capacity in the pipeline. What is the opportunity for APAC? How do the APAC countries compare in terms of CCUS policy readiness? What else can APAC do to improve the viability and acceptance of CCUS projects for key hard-to -abate sectors?

To address this issue, Asia CCUS Network (ACN) Secretariat working collaboratively with our supporting member Wood Mackenzie, will host on the 14th ACN Knowledge Sharing Conference entitled: Delivering CCUS potential in APAC: Policy efficacy and ecosystem dynamics.