The European Union (EU) has recently reinforced its policy framework for industrial decarbonisation, with carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) playing an increasingly important role in strategies for climate neutrality and industrial competitiveness. For the successful deployment of CCUS, it is necessary to develop infrastructure to transport the captured CO2 from its sources to suitable storage sites. This study presents a bottom-up techno-economic assessment of the potential for CO2 capture across EU industry, focusing on five sectors: cement, iron and steel, refining, chemicals (standalone hydrogen and ammonia), and waste-to-energy. The analysis uses openly available data from 555 industrial installations and estimates theoretical capturable CO2 volumes and capture costs at facility level, accounting for plant emissions, sector-specific capture technologies, sector-wide assumptions on excess heat availability, national electricity prices, and proximity to storage sites and industrial hubs. The results show that the technical potential for capture is highly sensitive to the technology pathway considered. Under the reference capture configuration (MEA absorption), total capturable volumes range between 247 and 326 MtCO2 per year but fall by 23% and 62% under more deployment-constrained scenarios. Estimated capture costs range from 40 to 235 EUR/tCO2, with an EU average of 82 EUR/tCO2. Iron and steel and refining are the most CAPEX-intensive sectors, with capital costs accounting for 60–90% of total capture cost due to their multiple and spatially dispersed emission sources.

MARTINEZ CASTILLA Guillermo; 

2026-07-24

Publications Office of the European Union

JRC146193

978-92-68-42123-9 (online),   

1831-9424 (online),   

EUR 40793,    OP KJ-01-26-318-EN-N (online),   

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC146193,   

10.2760/9904760 (online),