The carbon capture and storage (sequestration) market has experienced exponential growth in recent years, attracting huge interest from investors and governments around the world. The main reason is that these technologies are no longer seen as just an optional benefit, but how an absolutely key tool for meeting global climate commitments. The Paris Agreement signed in 2016 set an ambitious goal: to keep the increase in global temperature below 2°C, ideally below 1.5°C. To stay within this limit, the global budget allows us to emit only about 400 gigatons of emissions.

However, many countries have quickly realized that this goal cannot be achieved solely by switching to renewable energy sources. The pace of development of green technologies cannot keep up with the rate at which humanity produces carbon dioxide. For this reason, it is necessary to dramatically scale up carbon sequestration and removal capacities, not only to stop new emissions, but also to remove those already emitted. According to scientists' estimates, the world needs remove up to 10 billion tonnes (Gt) of CO₂ from the atmosphere annually by 2050 and double this number by 2100. The current market is therefore experimenting with a wide range of methods - from gigantic fans to adjusting the pH of the oceans to recycling emissions in the construction industry. At the forefront of this technological revolution in 2026 is five key companies.

1. SLB Capturi (formerly Aker Carbon Capture)

The Norwegian company, founded in 2020 as a subsidiary of Aker Solutions, is among the most stable and largest players in the industry. It is one of the few publicly traded companies in the sector, and after its listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange in 2020, its market capitalization reached $750.65 million. Although formally in operation for only a few years, it builds on technology that parent group Aker has been developing for more than a decade. The company focuses on capturing CO₂ from waste gases in refineries and cement plants through its patented modular and easily transportable solutions.

In 2024, the company underwent a fundamental transformation when it merged its activities with the giant SLB (formerly Schlumberger). In the newly formed joint venture called SLB Capturi SLB holds an 80 % stake, while Aker Carbon Capture ASA owns the remaining 20 %. Their flagship project – the Brevik cement plant with a capture capacity 400,000 tons of CO₂ per year – was officially put into operation in June 2025 as the world's first industrial facility of its kind in the cement industry.

2. Climeworks

Founded in 2009, the Swiss company is a leading player in the field of Direct Air Capture (DAC). Climeworks recently raised an investment of $650 million, the largest funding round for a startup in the carbon removal sector. Its technology uses modular collectors with large industrial fans and special filters to selectively separate CO₂ from the air. Initially, the company sold the captured gas to greenhouses and soda producers, but later partnered with Icelandic company Carbfix to permanently store the carbon underground.

In 2021, they launched a 4,000 tonne CO₂ per year partner operation in Iceland, becoming the first ever DAC facility with permanent sequestration. However, in May 2024, Climeworks launched its largest plant to date Mammoth with an annual capacity of up to 36,000 tons, which is almost ten times the capacity of the Orca plant. In addition, in the US, the company is making strong progress with the construction of the megaton DAC center Project Cypress in Louisiana in 2025 and 2026, with the support of the local Department of Energy.

3. Carbon Clean

The British company, headquartered in London, was founded in 2009 and has so far helped capture through its technology 588 metric tons of CO₂. In total, it has raised $212 million in funding. One of its notable achievements is an industrial carbon capture and utilization plant in Chennai, India, with an annual capacity of 60,000 tons of CO₂.

Carbon Clean's strength lies in efficiency and innovation. In 2021, they introduced the CycloneCC solution, which achieves over 90% capture efficiency and promises to reduce costs under $30 per metric ton of CO₂. At the end of 2024, the company successfully commercialized the CycloneCC C1 series – a fully modular unit without classic columns, which reduces the physical footprint of the capture stations by more than 50 %. For 2026, the company is preparing to install a major offshore pilot project in collaboration with MODEC on a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.

4. Carbfix

Founded in 2006, the Reykjavik-based Icelandic company is a leader in the sustainable mineralization of captured carbon. Its unique technology does not involve recycling CO₂, but rather permanent storage deep underground in basalt rocks, where gas is converted to solid rock in a short time. In addition to working with Climeworks on the Orca project, it also operates the European Union-backed Arctic Fox pilot plant. The company has raised $117 million in funding so far.

A major milestone for Carbfix in 2026 is the launch Coda Terminal in Iceland in the middle of the year. This cross-border transport and storage hub will receive CO₂ captured in industrial plants across Northern Europe and then permanently store it in basalt bedrock in the Straumsvík area.

5. Carbon Engineering (owned by Oxy)

Founded in 2009, the Vancouver, Canada-based company has developed a unique liquid DAC process that uses a potassium hydroxide solution to capture emissions from the air. Thanks to this innovative approach, it has received $110 million in investment from major names such as Bill Gates, Chevron, Occidental, Airbus or Air Canada. In addition to capture itself, it is also focusing on „air-to-fuels“ technology, which can convert captured carbon into clean synthetic fuels on a large scale; these facilities are expected to be fully operational by 2026.

In November 2023, the company was acquired by oil giant Occidental (Oxy) for $1.1 billion, making Carbon Engineering its wholly owned subsidiary. Its technology is currently being deployed extensively through its 1PointFive division. The most significant development in early 2026 is the entry into commercial operation of the Stratos megaproject in Texas. Stratos with a projected capacity 500,000 tons of CO₂ per year thus becoming the largest functional DAC device in the world.

Moving towards carbon neutrality (Net Zero)

Carbon capture devices play an indispensable role in efforts to achieve global neutrality by 2050. According to calculations by the International Energy Agency (IEA), direct air capture (DAC) technologies could capture more than 85 million tons of CO₂ and by 2050 up to 980 million tons. However, to achieve these numbers, the five market leaders have a huge amount of work to do to scale the entire industry.

A positive trend is the increasing inflow of public and private investment in this sector, as documented by the US Department of Energy (DOE), which has allocated $13 million to support 23 innovative projects in the field of carbon removal. Thanks to these technological solutions, corporations now have a real chance to not only meet, but potentially exceed, their strict climate goals for the near future. Source: carboncredits.com, JRi&CO2AI