Defossilising Industry – Scaling-up Carbon Capture and Utilisation Pathways.

Sept 2025 : Industrial production is the foundation of the global economy, yet it is also a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. As countries and industrial sectors pursue pathways to net zero, the

question is not whether carbon management is needed, but how to do it effectively. Among the options available, carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) offers a promising pathway to convert captured CO2 into products such as fuels, chemicals and building materials those which are potential in creating new industrial value streams while reducing reliance on primary fossil feedstocks and contributing to emissions abatement.

While CCU is still at an early stage, with high costs and uneven policy support, its potential benefits warrant attention. Policies currently favour carbon capture and storage (CCS) over utilisation and this imbalance, combined with limited market signals, could shape the depth and pace of CCU’s strives in the years ahead. Whether CCU proves to be a meaningful lever for decarbonisation will depend on how stakeholders choose to create the right conditions for innovation, deployment and learning.

As momentum builds behind industrial decarbonisation, CCU merits thorough, context specific consideration. Stakeholders including governments, industry, investors and researchers are invited to engage in a clear-eyed assessment of CCU’s role within broader transition strategies. The challenge is to identify where CCU can deliver both climate and economic value, and how targeted support can accelerate that process as part of a larger set of strategies delivering more sustainable production and emissions management The task is complex, but also full of possibility.

With the right coordination, shared ambition and a willingness to test solutions, by fostering open, evidence-based dialogue and clarifying the conditions required to scale up what works, decision makers can ensure that choices around CCU are deliberate, informed and aligned with a sustainable industrial future.

Carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) could present an opportunity for reducing emissions from industrial supply chains by converting captured CO₂ and other carbon-based emissions into valuable carbon-based products. CCU technologies therefore offer the potential to “defossilise” industries that rely on carbon feedstocks. A few re-use opportunities are already mature, such as urea production for use in fertilisers. Beyond this, there are technology pathways for reusing carbon in fuels, chemicals, construction materials and other pure-carbon products being developed with potential for climate benefits. However, many applications of re-used carbon remain at pilot and demonstration scale and/or

are commercially immature. Because these CCU technologies have attracted less attention than mature applications, this paper focuses on the challenges that innovators and first movers face, including their business strategies.

While CCU offers significant opportunities in theory, in practice nascent CCU technologies face many systemic barriers. This paper analyses three such barriers:

First, policy frameworks are fragmented and inconsistent across jurisdictions and CCU pathways. This makes it challenging for first movers to see a reliable and significant market to support future scaling-up, deterring investment. Moreover, existing policies heavily favour sequestration over utilisation and, in some cases, effectively create disincentives to invest in CCU.

Second, CCU companies face “valleys of death” as with many potentially important yet novel technologies. These are characterised by long development timelines, high capital requirements and immature business models lacking well-defined routes to revenue. These factors create barriers to conventional early stage investment forms, such as traditional venture capital.

Third, successful deployment of CCU will require unprecedented cross-sectoral collaboration in most industrial supply chains between CCU companies and incumbent industries. Partnerships can offer

access to infrastructure, expertise and market channels to support the scaling-up of nascent CCU technologies.

However, the inherent complexity of testing small-scale, first-of-a kind technical solutions within large, mature, industrial complexes can impede collaboration. Beyond practical issues of technological integrity, cross-industry collaboration also has an important role in advocacy and awareness raising.

Team Maverick