Research Articles

IDTechEx analyst Eve Pope discusses the production pathways for biofuels and e-fuels including sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel.

Reaching global net-zero by 2050 targets in the marine and aviation sectors will require large-scale e-fuel production. This IDTechEx article provides an explanation of the current e-fuel space.

While the HEFA pathway dominates sustainable fuel production globally, feedstocks are limited. In this article, IDTechEx explores advanced biofuel technologies expected to rise when the world runs out of HEFA.

Decarbonization of the aviation and maritime sectors will require large amounts of low-carbon fuels to reach global net-zero targets. IDTechEx forecasts that the global sustainable aviation fuel market may reach US$50 billion in 2036.

The climate crisis demands diversity in decarbonization solutions. From CCUS (carbon capture, utilization, and storage) to renewable electricity from wind and solar power, many green technologies must grow in tandem. In this article, IDTechEx explores how electrochemical technologies could redefine carbon capture as an energy asset.

IDTechEx's research encompasses a wide range of existing innovative technologies with the potential to decarbonize the planet. However, costs are generally higher compared with the fossil fuel status quo. Creative market mechanisms are needed, unlocking green technologies for buyers across a wide range of sectors and geographies.

Amine solvents are the leading technologies for post-combustion capture, but innovation is ongoing. In this article, IDTechEx explores technologies and markets for post-combustion capture.

Senior Technology Analyst Eve Pope covers what to consider when selecting a carbon capture technology and which carbon capture technologies are most mature.

There are growing market opportunities globally for both incumbent and emerging gas separation membrane materials. In this article, IDTechEx Senior Technology Analyst Eve Pope explores three emerging materials for gas separation membranes.

CCUS technologies can enable global decarbonization without deindustrialization. In this article, some key insights from the new IDTechEx "Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) Markets 2026-2036" report are shared.

From the natural gas that underpins power generation to the carbon dioxide emissions driving the climate crisis, there is no denying gases have a significant impact on modern life. This IDTechEx article explores future technologies in power, mobility, and manufacturing enabled by the two lightest gases: hydrogen and helium.

This IDTechEx article covers biomethane production, which can offer energy security and decarbonized power. It is typically produced via biogas upgrading using gas separation membranes.

Carbon dioxide removal has an important role to play in climate strategies for businesses and governments alike. This new IDTechEx article explores three key carbon dioxide removal technologies.

Key applications, both mature and emerging, for gas separation membranes include biogas upgrading, natural gas processing, carbon capture, and hydrogen separation. As gas separation membrane markets grow, start-ups seek to commercialize new membrane materials and composite structures.

Green cement technologies will avoid a further 422 megatonnes of CO₂ emissions by 2035, according to research from the IDTechEx market report "Decarbonization of Cement 2025-2035: Technologies, Market Forecasts, and Players" - https://www.IDTechEx.com/Cement. In this short video, Senior Technology Anayst Eve Pope talks through progress in cement decarbonization.

Direct air capture (DAC) could play an essential role in meeting global net-zero targets by addressing residual and legacy CO₂ emissions. However, capture costs are currently too high. This IDTechEx article explores pathways to lower-cost DAC.

The environment often pays a price for the comforts of modern life. Every year on Earth Day, the world reflects on pathways towards a greener economy that promotes resource circularity and a lower carbon footprint.

With record-breaking carbon credit sales in 2024 and increasing overlap of voluntary and compliance carbon markets, the business case for carbon dioxide removal is growing stronger. IDTechEx forecasts the carbon credit market revenue from durable, engineered carbon dioxide removal technologies will exceed US$14 billion in 2035.

IDTechEx analysts attended Data Centre World in London as part of ongoing data center sustainability and thermal management research. This article highlights three insights from the event.

IDTechEx forecasts that by 2035, the global data center sector will have saved US$150 billion by using low-carbon energy sources compared to a fossil fuel scenario (taking 2024 as the baseline). Some emerging energy technologies expected to play an increasingly important role are explored in this article.

Scope 3 emissions (indirect greenhouse gas emissions that occur in a company's value chain but are not produced by the company itself) are hard to quantify and even harder for businesses to reduce. The embodied carbon from construction can often be a significant contributor, with most of this CO2 coming from the cement used. This article explores three new green cement solutions that are increasingly enabling companies to decrease scope 3 CO2 emissions.

By 2035, IDTechEx forecasts that the continued growth of artificial intelligence will result in over 2000 TWh of energy being consumed by data centers. The expected increase in CO2 emissions from powering these new data centers creates a dual challenge for both governments with net-zero targets and tech giants with internal carbon neutrality pledges alike: how can the unprecedented rise of AI be supported without causing major harm to the environment?

Global demand for low-carbon cement is increasing. Government regulation for low-carbon cement production is strongest in the European Union, and the US government has been particularly active in green public procurement. Private sector demand is growing, and the advent of book and claim systems could accelerate this market even further.

As global populations rise and more regions urbanize, cutting back on construction isn't a viable decarbonization strategy. Leading cement decarbonization technologies, including supplementary cementitious materials, alternative fuels, and carbon capture, will avoid an additional 422 million tonnes of CO2 emissions, in the cement sector over the coming decade.

Across the globe, over 140 countries have set a net-zero target, with many committed to reaching net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050. This Herculean task will require many emission reduction technologies in tandem - and the groundwork must be laid now. CCUS (carbon capture, utilization, and storage) solutions have been identified as one such vital tool with the ability to decarbonize existing industry assets.

While most of the voluntary market saw a downturn in 2023, corners of the market selling durable, carbon removal credits are flourishing and playing a vital role in supporting emerging technologies such as direct air capture and CO2 utilization in concrete.

The chemicals industry depends heavily on finite fossil fuel feedstocks and is responsible for 2% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions. IDTechEx explores how captured CO2 could be utilized as a feedstock for hundreds of different chemicals instead, providing an economic and environmental incentive to capture carbon dioxide and create a circular economy.

According to IDTechEx forecasts, dedicated geological storage of carbon dioxide will outpace EOR as the leading end fate of capture CO2 by the end of the decade. By 2045, IDTechEx forecasts the world will be sequestering 1.6 gigatonnes per annum of CO2 underground.

Carbon capture technologies capable of removing CO2 from industrial emissions have been around for over 50 years, but widescale deployment of CCUS (carbon capture, utilization, and storage) has been too slow for global net-zero ambitions. While governments are beginning to implement carbon pricing mechanisms or tax credits to motivate permanent storage of CO2 deep underground, a profitable business model exists beyond CO2 sequestration via emerging CO2 utilization applications.

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies strip carbon dioxide (CO2) from waste gases and directly from the atmosphere before either storing it underground or using it for a range of industrial applications. IDTechEx forecasts significant growth for CCUS.

Major CCUS (carbon capture, utilization, and storage) players converged in Houston, Texas, in the last week of June for the 2024 iteration of the Carbon Capture Technology Expo North America. Co-located with the Hydrogen Technology Expo, the event boasted over 8000 attendees and 400 exhibitors - including IDTechEx.

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies strip carbon dioxide (CO₂) from waste gases and directly from the atmosphere before either storing it underground or using it for a range of industrial applications.

Every year, our oceans absorb 11-15 gigatonnes of CO2 as part of the Earth's natural carbon cycle. An unsung hero in the face of rising global temperatures, negative emission technology pioneers have begun asking a simple question: What if the power of this immense marine carbon sink could be harnessed even further?

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) will be needed to reach any international net zero emission targets and avoid global warming beyond 1.5-2°C. Negative emissions technologies (NETs), especially those that go beyond nature-based approaches to provide long-lasting scalable CO2 removals, have therefore been receiving increased support through government policy and voluntary carbon credit purchases from corporations with ambitious climate goals.

The chemical sector alone is responsible for 2% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions, and the industry depends heavily on finite fossil fuel feedstocks. The new IDTechEx report, "Carbon Dioxide Utilization 2024-2044: Technologies, Market Forecasts, and Players", explores how captured CO2 could be utilized as a feedstock for hundreds of different chemicals instead.

In a world with a growing population and a rapidly expanding construction sector to match, how do we prevent building homes from damaging our climate? Concrete is the second most consumed material on Earth, but its key ingredient, cement, is responsible for 7% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions. The answer could come from thin air - CO2-derived building materials.