Carbon capture utilisation (CCU) is the process of capturing CO₂ emissions from industrial sources and converting them into useful products such as fuels, chemicals, and materials, rather than releasing them into the atmosphere. Unlike storage-based approaches, CCU treats captured carbon as a feedstock rather than a problem to be buried. The sections below address the most common questions about how CCU works, which industries can use it, and whether it is commercially ready today.

How does carbon capture utilisation actually work?

Carbon capture utilisation works by intercepting CO₂ at the point of industrial emission, capturing it before it reaches the atmosphere, and then using an energy-driven conversion process to break it down into simpler molecules that serve as chemical building blocks. The result is a circular carbon system where industrial waste gas becomes a productive input rather than a liability.

The capture step typically involves absorbing or separating CO₂ from a mixed off-gas stream, for example, the exhaust from a blast furnace or a biogas digester. Once concentrated, that CO₂ stream is fed into a conversion reactor. The conversion step is where the chemistry happens: energy is applied to break the strong carbon-oxygen bond in CO₂, releasing carbon monoxide (CO) or producing syngas (a mixture of CO and hydrogen) depending on the feedstock and process configuration.

In plasma-based CCU, such as the approach developed by D-CRBN, renewable electricity powers a plasma reactor that achieves this molecular splitting at ambient pressure. The plasma conversion technology breaks CO₂ into CO without producing byproducts like carbon black, achieving a conversion rate of 90.5% in a single pass. The resulting CO or syngas feeds directly into existing industrial value chains as a drop-in feedstock, replacing fossil-derived equivalents. Because the reactor can switch on and off rapidly, it can also operate on intermittent renewable electricity, aligning energy use with periods of surplus wind or solar generation.

What industries produce CO₂ that can be utilised?

The industries best suited to carbon capture utilisation are those that generate large, concentrated streams of CO₂ as a direct byproduct of their core process. Concentration matters: the higher the CO₂ content in the off-gas, the lower the energy and cost required to capture and convert it. Heavy industry is where CCU delivers the greatest impact.

• Steel production: Blast furnaces and direct reduction plants emit CO₂-rich process gases continuously. These off-gases can be captured and converted back into carbon monoxide, which then re-enters the furnace as a reducing agent, displacing coal and reducing fossil dependency.
• Chemicals and petrochemicals: These sectors rely heavily on fossil-derived CO and syngas as feedstocks for producing acetic acid, polycarbonates, methanol, and a wide range of other compounds. CCU provides a low-carbon alternative sourced from captured emissions rather than natural gas or coal.
• Biogas and wastewater treatment: Biogas produced from sludge digestion contains both methane and CO₂. Plasma conversion can process this mixed stream directly into green syngas, without needing to separate the gases first, making wastewater operators viable participants in the circular carbon economy.
• Synthetic fuel producers: E-fuel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) producers need carbon monoxide and syngas as precursors. CCU offers a pathway to source these inputs from captured industrial CO₂ rather than fossil resources.

Across all these sectors, the common thread is the presence of point-source CO₂ emissions that are currently vented, flared, or stored. CCU turns those streams into on-site feedstock production opportunities, which is particularly relevant for industrial operators facing tightening carbon regulations and volatile fossil feedstock prices.

What is the difference between CCU and CCS?

The key difference between carbon capture utilisation (CCU) and carbon capture and storage (CCS) is what happens to the CO₂ after it is captured. CCS permanently sequesters CO₂ underground in geological formations, treating it as waste to be contained. CCU converts CO₂ into valuable products, treating it as a raw material to be reused.

What CCS does

CCS captures CO₂ from industrial or power generation sources, compresses it, transports it, often via pipeline, and injects it into deep geological reservoirs where it is intended to remain indefinitely. The approach can reduce atmospheric emissions, but it generates no economic return from the captured carbon. It also requires significant infrastructure for transport and storage, and carries long-term monitoring obligations to ensure the stored CO₂ does not leak.

What CCU does differently

CCU skips the storage step entirely. Instead of treating captured CO₂ as a liability to be locked away, CCU converts it into carbon monoxide, syngas, methanol, synthetic fuels, polymers, or other products that have direct market value. This creates a revenue stream from what was previously an emission, and it means the captured carbon actively displaces fossil-derived feedstocks in existing supply chains. From a regulatory standpoint, CCU can also reduce a facility’s net carbon footprint, lowering exposure to carbon pricing mechanisms such as the EU Emissions Trading System.

For industries that generate CO₂ continuously and at scale, CCU is often the more practical and economically attractive option. D-CRBN’s electrified CO production exemplifies this logic: rather than storing CO₂ from steel plant off-gases, the plasma reactor converts it into carbon monoxide that goes straight back into the steelmaking process.

What products can be made from captured CO₂?

Captured CO₂ can be converted into carbon monoxide, syngas, synthetic fuels, methanol, polymers, and a range of chemicals. The specific output depends on the conversion technology used and the downstream process it feeds into. In practice, the most industrially relevant products today are carbon monoxide and syngas, which serve as foundational building blocks across multiple sectors.

• Carbon monoxide (CO): Used as a reducing agent in steelmaking, and as a feedstock in the production of acetic acid, polycarbonates, and other chemicals. Plasma-based CO₂ splitting produces high-purity CO that integrates directly into existing chemical processes.
• Syngas (CO + H₂): A versatile intermediate used to produce methanol, ammonia, synthetic fuels, and olefins. D-CRBN’s electrified syngas production converts biogas directly into syngas with a targeted H₂:CO ratio of 2:1, suitable for methanol synthesis without requiring external hydrogen.
• E-methanol: Produced from green syngas, methanol is a clean fuel and chemical feedstock increasingly in demand for maritime transport and chemical manufacturing.
• Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF): Syngas derived from biogenic CO₂ and biomethane can be processed into SAF via established synthesis routes, providing a fossil-free pathway for aviation fuel.
• Polymers and plastics: Carbon monoxide is a precursor for polycarbonates and other polymer chains, meaning captured CO₂ can ultimately end up in durable materials rather than the atmosphere.

The breadth of these applications is significant. It means CCU is not a niche solution tied to one industry but a cross-sectoral platform that can redirect captured carbon into whichever value chain offers the best economic and environmental return at a given site.

How does CCU help industries meet carbon regulations?

CCU helps industries meet carbon regulations by reducing net CO₂ emissions at the point of production, lowering the volume of emissions subject to carbon pricing, and enabling the production of low-carbon feedstocks that reduce scope 3 emissions across the supply chain. In regulatory frameworks like the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), fewer net emissions translate directly into lower compliance costs.

When a facility captures CO₂ that would otherwise be emitted and converts it into a product, that carbon is no longer counted as a released emission. This reduces the facility’s reportable emissions and, under ETS, the number of allowances it must purchase. As carbon prices rise, a trajectory that European policy has consistently supported, the financial benefit of each tonne of CO₂ utilised rather than emitted increases correspondingly.

Beyond direct compliance, CCU supports the broader shift toward circular industrial operations that regulators and investors increasingly expect. Companies that can demonstrate active carbon utilisation rather than passive emission management are better positioned under frameworks such as the EU Green Deal, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), and corporate net-zero commitments. CCU also reduces dependence on fossil feedstocks, which addresses both the carbon content of products and the geopolitical supply risks that regulators are beginning to factor into industrial resilience assessments.

For industrial operators ready to act, electrifying feedstock production through on-site CCU systems is one of the most direct routes to measurable, verifiable emissions reduction within existing infrastructure.

Is carbon capture utilisation commercially viable today?

Yes, carbon capture utilisation is commercially viable today, particularly for heavy industries with concentrated CO₂ streams and existing feedstock needs. The technology has moved beyond laboratory demonstration into industrial pilot and early commercial deployment. The remaining challenge is not technical feasibility but cost competitiveness, and that gap is closing as energy efficiency improves and carbon pricing rises.

The critical factor determining commercial viability is energy efficiency. CCU requires electricity to drive the conversion process, so the cost of the output product is directly tied to the cost and carbon intensity of that electricity. Technologies that require less electricity per tonne of CO₂ converted produce cheaper, cleaner output. D-CRBN’s plasma conversion process consumes approximately 1,100 kWh per tonne of CO₂, roughly five times more efficient than competing conversion routes, which is what makes the resulting CO and syngas cost-competitive with fossil-derived equivalents without requiring a sustainability premium from buyers.

Industrial validation has also progressed significantly. The first trial of plasma-based CO₂ conversion at a major European steel plant demonstrated safe operation at a major-hazard industrial site, record-low electricity consumption, and compatibility with the impurities naturally present in steelmaking off-gases. A follow-up demonstrator project targeting continuous CO production is now underway. A separate pilot converting biogas from wastewater treatment into green syngas for methanol production launched in early 2026, covering the full value chain from sludge to chemical feedstock.

From a lifecycle perspective, using renewable electricity and biogenic CO₂ as feedstock, the process achieves a carbon-negative outcome, estimated at 0.7 tonnes of CO₂-equivalent per tonne of CO produced, compared to a global fossil-based average of 2.1 tonnes. The process remains carbon-negative as long as the electricity grid it draws from emits below 0.4 tonnes of CO₂ per MWh, a threshold already met by several European national grids.

For industrial decision-makers evaluating CCU as a practical next step, the combination of proven pilot results, modular plug-and-play deployment, and improving cost parity with fossil feedstocks makes 2026 a realistic entry point. Reaching out to D-CRBN’s team to assess site-specific feasibility is a logical starting point for operators in steel, chemicals, or biogas who are ready to move from evaluation to deployment.

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