Articles / Case Studies

US defunds carbon capture

21 July 2025

Last week's announcement from the National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC) in the USA, that it is now pilot-scale testing a promising new capture technology developed by KC8 Capture Technologies with the help of funding from the Department of Energy (DoE), will be undoubtedly be welcomed by the US cement industry at a time of growing uncertainty about carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS). KC8’s system, UNO MK3, deploys a catalytically enhanced potassium carbonate solvent and is reckoned to be a cheaper, high-performance alternative to amine-based technology. It is capable of capturing 95 per cent of CO 2 emissions from industrial sources like natural gas and cement plants. The UNO MK3 will be tested in a 5-10tpd plant that captures CO 2 from the combustion flue gas delivered by the NCCC’s natural gas testing system. Although it is positive news, and while the DoE continues to fund other cement-related CCUS research, the rhetoric from the Trump administration about CCU...