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Industrial carbon management

Industrial carbon management is the range of technologies to capture, transport, use and store CO2 emissions from industrial and energy production facilities, as well as to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

Industrial carbon management focuses on 3 technological pathways.

Capture of CO2 for storage (CCS): CO2 emissions of fossil, biogenic or atmospheric origin are captured for permanent and safe geological storage.

Capture of CO2 for utilisation (CCU): captured CO2 is used to substitute fossil-based carbon in construction products, chemicals or fuels.

Removal of CO2 from the atmosphere: biogenic or atmospheric CO2 is captured by technological means and stored permanently.

CO2 transport infrastructure serves as a key enabler for these 3 pathways and is essential for developing a fully-fledged CO2 market in Europe. 

Whenever CO2 is not used directly at the capture site, it must be transported either for use in industrial processes, for example for construction products, synthetic fuels, plastics or other chemicals, or for permanent storage. CO2 transport options include pipelines, ships, rail and trucks. 

The video can be downloaded and is subtitled in the 22 official EU languages. 

© European Union, 2024

Legislative initiative on CO2 transportation infrastructure and markets

The February 2024 Communication on a 2040 climate target and its impact assessment underscored the need for CCU and CCS to meet the EU 2050 climate objectives. The Industrial Carbon Management strategy, published at the same time in February 2024, recognises the need for a legislative initiative with a view to ensuring the development of competitive markets and transportation infrastructure for CO2. The political guidelines for the 2024-2029 Commission reiterate this need.

A call for evidence on the legislative initiative, planned for adoption in early 2027, ran between 31 July and 11 September 2025 and received 174 responses. A public consultation ran between 6 October 2025 and 9 January 2026 and gathered 206 responses.

Industrial carbon management strategy

The adoption of the European Green Deal, the European Climate Law and the subsequent proposals to increase energy and climate targets for 2030 have made carbon management technologies an important part of the EU decarbonisation effort.

On 6 February 2024, the Commission adopted the industrial carbon management strategy (COM/2024/62), introducing a comprehensive approach to scale up carbon management in the EU. The strategy outlines a set of actions to be taken, at both EU and national level, to establish a single CO2 market in Europe and to foster a more attractive environment for investments in industrial carbon management technologies.

An open public consultation on the industrial carbon management strategy ran between 8 June and 31 August 2023. In November 2023, the Commission published a report providing an analysis of the responses received from stakeholders and citizens.

Legislative framework for carbon management
  • In July 2026, the Commission proposed a targeted revision of the EU Emissions Trading System, with measures to recognise permanent carbon removals, account for non-permanent carbon utilisation, and include waste incineration in the system. 
  • The Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Certification Regulation (EU/2024/3012) adopted in December 2024 creates a voluntary framework for certifying carbon removals and carbon storage in products sourced from atmospheric or biogenic origin.
  • The Net Zero Industry Act (EU/2024/1735) adopted in June 2024 sets a legally binding target of 50 million tonnes of annual CO2 injection capacity in the EU by 2030 as well as corresponding obligations on oil and gas producers in the EU to develop CO2 storage sites.
  • In December 2021, the Commission adopted a Communication (COM/2021/800  aimed at establishing sustainable and climate-resilient carbon cycles. It lists key actions to support industrial capture, use and storage of CO2, including the assessment of cross-border CO2 infrastructure deployment needs at EU, regional and national levels until 2030 and beyond. 
  • EU legislation has covered CCU since 2018, in particular through the Renewable Energy Directive (EU/2018/2001), and more recently in the amending Directive EU/2023/2413, which encourages the use of renewable fuels of non-biological origin, including fuels produced from captured CO2.
  • The EU Emissions Trading System Directive (2003/87/EC) provides an incentive to capture and permanently store CO2 generated from fossil fuel and industrial process emissions, through a carbon pricing mechanism.
  • In 2009, the Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxide Directive (2009/31/EC), also known as the CCS Directive, was adopted establishing a regulatory framework for the safe transport and storage of CO2.

ICM Forum and Working Groups

The Industrial Carbon Management Forum (ICM Forum) is a robust stakeholder consultation platform established by the Commission in 2021, initially under the name 'CCUS Forum', which meets annually. Between 2021 and 2025, 7 working groups provided valuable input in an inclusive bottom-up process, resulting in the publication of issue papers to prepare the discussions of the annual plenary session.  

The ICM Forum plenary is traditionally co-hosted by the Commission and a different EU country each year. Spanning 2 days, it gathers approximately 500 stakeholders active in the CO2 value chain, including EU institutions, EU and non-EU countries, industry, NGOs, academia and many others to discuss the deployment of industrial carbon management technologies in the EU.

More about the ICM Forum
©AdobeStock:BECCS Stockholm/K6 PROGRAM/SHARC

EU support for the ICM value chain

The Commission actively supports industrial carbon management projects across the full value chain. 

Innovation fund

As of October 2026, more than €5 billion in Innovation Fund regular grants is allocated to more than 40 ICM projects covering the full value chain. 

Selected applicants currently benefiting from Innovation Fund grants can be consulted on the Commission's website.

Horizon EU

The Commission also supports research, development and innovation for industrial carbon management technologies through Horizon Europe and stakeholder engagement, such as the Strategic Energy Technology Plan Working Group on CCUS and its associated European Technology and Innovation Platform ‘Carbon Management Europe’.

Under Horizon Europe Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility), the Commission supports developing new and/or improving existing CO2 capture, transport, utilisation and storage technologies. A dedicated project, CCUS Zero Emission Network (ZEN), supports the integration of CCS and CCU in hubs and clusters, including knowledge-sharing activities. It took over the activities of the previously supported CCUS Project Network (2018-2023) and aims to build a coherent ecosystem of CCUS actors capable of decarbonising Europe’s industry and delivering the EU’s climate target plan.

Under Horizon Europe Cluster 4 (Digital, Industry and Space), several calls address carbon capture and utilisation in topics related to industrial symbiosis and Hubs for Circularity.

State aid

The Commission also enables EU countries to support industrial carbon management projects through state aid under certain conditions specified in the Guidelines on State aid for climate, environmental protection and energy (CEEAG) from 2022 and in the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF) from 2025.

EU support for CO2 transport infrastructure

On 7 September 2026, the Yara Sluiskil plant, the largest commercial carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in Europe started its operations in the Netherlands. A direct result of the EU-Norway Green Alliance, CO2 is transported by ship and permanently stored under the Norwegian North Sea at the Northern Lights facility, funded by the EU's Connecting Europe Facility. The plant is expected to capture and store around 12 million tons of CO₂ over 15 years.

Cross-border CO2 transport infrastructure projects are within the scope of the Trans-European Networks for Energy (TEN-E) Regulation. They can apply to become Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) or Projects of Mutual Interest (PMIs) and subsequently apply for support under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). Every 2 years, the Commission adopts an EU list of PCIs and, since 2023, also of projects of PMIs, which involve non-EU countries. In April 2026, the Commission published the second list of PCIs and PMIs which features 17 CO2 network projects. 

The Commission's Joint Research Centre published in February 2024 a study on the future CO2 transport network for Europe and related investment needs.

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