CO2 Capture Utilization and Storage - From molecular chemistry to life cycle

The accelerating pace of climate change driven by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, particularly carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ), necessitates a fundamental rethinking of industrial and energy value chains. In this context, carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies offer an essential, albeit partial, response to the carbon neutrality target set for 2050. The CCUS concept encompasses a range of techniques aimed at capturing CO ₂ from industrial emissions or directly from the ambient air, transporting it, and then utilizing or storing it in a sustainable manner. CO ₂ capture is the first key link in this comprehensive chain.

First, we examine the many challenges associated with the large-scale deployment of CCUS, whether economic (the costs of the various stages in the chain), technological (energy efficiency, robustness, modularity), or environmental (the climate benefits vary depending on the sector, the source of the CO ₂ , the energy used, and the life cycle of the recovered products).

From a chemist’s perspective, we then provide an in-depth analysis of the post-combustion CO ₂ capture process using amines (which account for two-thirds of the CO ₂ currently captured), detailing the reaction mechanisms, thermodynamic equilibria, and kinetic parameters that govern capture efficiency. This analysis highlights current knowledge gaps and opportunities for optimization, as well as the trade-offs inherent in any improvement.

The purpose of this article is twofold: first, to provide a technical and economic overview of CCUS in 2025, with a particular focus on post-combustion capture using amines; and second, to offer physicochemical insights that help elucidate the complexity of these systems at the molecular level.