Revenues from durable carbon dioxide removal credits are set to exceed $14bn by 2035, driven by growing demand for engineered removal technologies, according to a report by independent technology research group IDTechEx.
The report, ‘Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) 2025–2035: carbon credit markets, technologies, players, and forecasts’, states that durable CDR, which refers to captured carbon that is stored for centuries or longer, credit sales hit a record high in 2024 as corporate buyers sought high-quality offsets to address Scope 3 emissions (indirect emissions across a company’s value chain). While supply remains limited, momentum behind engineered approaches is helping to scale the market.
Covered technologies include direct air capture (DAC), bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, biochar, enhanced weathering, and ocean-based methods. Though these vary in cost and maturity, they are seen as complements to nature-based solutions in achieving global Net Zero goals.
Total global DAC capacity is expected to reach the megatonne level in 2025. Climeworks launched the world’s largest DAC plant in 2024, with capacity to capture 40,000 tonnes of CO2 annually. US-based 1PointFive is due to complete its Stratos project in 2025, further increasing global capacity. Despite high costs, more than 100 companies are now active in DAC, supported by public and private investment.
The report also highlights growing momentum for electrochemical CDR technologies, including electrolysis, electrodialysis and pH-swing approaches. Many of these are being developed to align with intermittent renewable energy and thereby improve energy efficiency.
As voluntary and compliance markets begin to converge, particularly under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement, which introduced a new international carbon crediting mechanism, IDTechEx sees a strengthening business case for durable CDR.
The report’s release follows discussion around all things CO2 at last week’s European CO2 Summit 2025 in Rotterdam. gasworld will explore the topic further in our ‘CO2: Securing supplies and exploring new pathways’ webinar tomorrow (28 March), featuring insights from DNV, Linde Engineering and Nippon Gases.
Register for the webinar here.
