OIES Podcast – Unlocking the Economics of CCS

In this podcast, Hasan Muslemani speaks to David Phillips about the costs of deploying carbon capture and storage (CCS) at scale. CCS is entering a new development phase driven by the need to decarbonize heavy industries such as cement, waste-to-energy, and pulp and paper rather than focusing mainly on coal power as in earlier cycles. Global capture capacity is currently about 64 million tons per year, but announced projects could raise this to over 300 million tons by 2030, although most are still not financed or under construction. The biggest barrier to deployment is project financing, not a lack of capital, but uncertainty and risk across the CCS value chain which makes investment decisions difficult.

The podcast evaluates how costs can decline significantly through modular plant design, learning-by-doing, and economies of scale, especially in transport and storage infrastructure where larger networks reduce per-ton costs. Technological improvements could further lower operating costs and energy use over time. Engineered carbon removals (CDR) – such as capturing biogenic CO₂ and selling removal credits – may create new revenue streams that improve CCS economics and attract corporate buyers. Overall, the industry’s success over the next decade will depend on deploying real projects to build experience, reduce costs, and prove reliability, which could eventually enable CCS to scale as a core tool for industrial decarbonization.

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