Publicly Traded Carbon Capture Companies: Which Companies Are About to Become Huge In 2021?

Carbon capture and storage could become a USD $1 trillion energy investment opportunity, according to the Bank of America.¹ As the world begins to grapple with climate change, investment into CCUS technologies has shot up.² But, which notable publicly traded carbon capture companies are capitalizing on this trend? Can start-up companies compete in this growing market?

In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicated that CO2 removal is necessary to limit global warming to 1.5 °C. Furthermore, it specifies that the world will need to remove an estimated 100 – 1,000 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the air. Specifically, this can be done through carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technology this century. This has led to companies investing tens of millions of US dollars into direct air capture (DAC) technology.³ Therefore, the amount of money invested into CCUS technology is likely to grow from USD $1.6 billion in 2020 to USD $3.5 billion by 2025.⁴

What is carbon capture?

In January 2021, when Elon Musk announced a USD $100 million prize for the best carbon capture technology, he set off a storm. Unsurprisingly, the prize spurred new interest in this growing field of interest.⁵

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies look at trapping carbon dioxide from the air. Then, companies extract the carbon and use it for products or store it underground. Currently, most CCUS technology in factories traps carbon before emission. Other forms of carbon capture, such as direct air capture (DAC), focus on removing carbon directly from the air.⁶

Trapping carbon at power plants is projected to be the fastest-growing segment in the CCUS market, according to some analysts.⁷

How do private and publicly traded carbon capture companies differ?

Currently, most publicly traded companies that invest in carbon capture technology are fossil fuel companies. Companies including Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell and NRG Energy all have active CCUS pilot projects underway.⁸ If you want to invest in carbon capture without buying fossil fuel shares, you will have to wait. Many new start-ups in this space, such as Global Thermostat, Carbon Engineering, CO2 Solutions and Climeworks, are not publicly listed yet. However, they are tipped as the ones to watch.⁹

That said, several critics of CCUS technology fear that it will never be commercially viable enough to impact carbon emissions. Instead, they say that it is better to invest in renewable energy or decarbonization.¹⁰

1. Meredith, S. (2021). In fact, Wall Street analysts pick stocks to cash in on a potential $1 trillion energy opportunity. [online] CNBC. Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/26/wall-street-pick-stocks-for-a-potential-1-trillion-energy-opportunity.html [Accessed 29 Apr. 2021].
2. Hook, L. (2019). Climate change fears spur investment in carbon capture technology. [online] Financial Times. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/da48cd04-4b2f-11e9-8b7f-d49067e0f50d.
3. Hook, L. (2019). Climate change fears spur investment in carbon capture technology. [online] Financial Times. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/da48cd04-4b2f-11e9-8b7f-d49067e0f50d.
4. finance.yahoo.com. (2020). Global Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Market (2020 to 2025) – Large Number of Upcoming Projects in APAC Present Opportunities – ResearchAndMarkets.com. [online] Available at: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/global-carbon-capture-utilization-storage-171700894.html [Accessed 29 Apr. 2021].
5. Coren, M.J. (n.d.). Elon Musk just bought $100 million in publicity for the carbon capture industry. [online] Quartz. Available at: https://qz.com/1962291/elon-musk-just-bought-100-million-in-publicity-for-climate-change/.
6. IEA. (2020). CCUS in Clean Energy Transitions – Analysis. [online] Available at: https://www.iea.org/reports/ccus-in-clean-energy-transitions.
7. finance.yahoo.com. (2020). Global Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Market (2020 to 2025) – Large Number of Upcoming Projects in APAC Present Opportunities – ResearchAndMarkets.com. [online] Available at: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/global-carbon-capture-utilization-storage-171700894.html.
8. finance.yahoo.com. (2020). Global Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Market (2020 to 2025) – Large Number of Upcoming Projects in APAC Present Opportunities – ResearchAndMarkets.com. [online] Available at: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/global-carbon-capture-utilization-storage-171700894.html.
9. Hower, M. (2016). 7 companies to watch in carbon capture and storage | Greenbiz. [online] Available at: https://www.greenbiz.com/article/7-companies-watch-carbon-capture-and-storage [Accessed 29 Apr. 2021].
10. the Guardian. (2021). Carbon capture is vital to meeting climate goals, scientists tell green critics. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/16/carbon-capture-vital-meeting-climate-goals-scientists-cut-emissions.