Carbon Capture (CCUS) Patent Landscape 2026
Carbon Capture (CCUS) Patent Landscape in 2026
The CCUS patent corpus spans 11,749 families and is in a Growth stage, with three-year filing volume roughly doubling versus the prior window — though annual volume has eased from its 2023 peak and the most recent years remain under-counted due to publication lag. General Electric Tech GmbH leads a moderately concentrated field, holding the top position among the hundred largest filers, with separation-process chemistry dominant across virtually every major applicant.
GE Tech leads a moderately concentrated, rapidly expanding field
General Electric Tech GmbH sits at the top of the applicant ranking with 754 patent families, ahead of ExxonMobil Technology & Engineering Co at 512 and Air Products & Chemicals at 372. The top five filers together account for 19% of the combined total of the hundred largest filers — a moderate concentration level that signals meaningful room for challengers.
A clear tier gap separates the leader (754 families) from the second-ranked applicant (512 families), and a second gap falls between the top-five incumbents and the broader mid-tier cohort, which includes national laboratories, universities, and specialist start-ups. This tiered structure suggests the field rewards both scale investment and focused niche strategy.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | General Electric Tech GmbH | 754 | |
| 2 | EXXONMOBIL TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING CO | 512 | |
| 3 | AIR PROD & CHEM INC | 372 | |
| 4 | LAIR LIQUIDE SA POUR LETUDE & LEXPLOITATION DES PR… | 353 | |
| 5 | Saudi Arabian Oil Co | 331 | |
| 6 | COMMONWEALTH SCI & IND RES ORG | 307 | |
| 7 | Toshiba Corporation | 307 | |
| 8 | Huaneng Clean Energy Research Institute | 300 | |
| 9 | Alstom Technology Ltd | 278 | |
| 10 | Shell Internationale Research Maatschappij BV | 238 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | The Regents of the University of California | 234 | |
| 12 | Climeworks AG | 227 | |
| 13 | IFP Energies Nouvelles | 208 | |
| 14 | General Electric Co | 201 | |
| 15 | Research Triangle Institute | 190 | |
| 16 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 177 | |
| 17 | KING ABDULLAH UNIV OF SCI & TECH | 172 | |
| 18 | Korea Institute of Energy Research | 164 | |
| 19 | Fluor Technologies Corp | 154 | |
| 20 | Siemens AG | 150 |
The leaders’ positions are grounded in separation-process chemistry (IPC B01D), which recurs as the primary technical anchor for every top applicant reviewed. Incumbents with large, mature B01D portfolios benefit from citation leverage and freedom-to-operate depth, raising the bar for new entrants targeting mainstream post-combustion capture.
Applicant rankings and the corpus total of 11,749 are measured in patent families. Branch, jurisdiction, and route-matrix figures are at the patent-record level — a single family can carry multiple IPC classes or be filed across several offices, so those counts independently exceed the family total and are not directly comparable to it. The most recent 18–24 months of filing data are systematically under-counted due to publication lag and should not be interpreted as a slowdown.
Multi-year growth driven by separation chemistry, with emerging electrolytic and utilisation branches
The annual filing trend and IPC composition charts together show where investment has concentrated and where it is beginning to diversify. Separation processes remain structurally dominant, but adjacent classes covering electrolytic production, gas liquefaction, and biological conversion are accumulating records at a meaningful, if smaller, scale.
Annual filing trend
Filings climbed steadily from 2017 through a 2023 peak before easing in 2024; the 2025 and 2026 bars are heavily under-counted due to publication lag and must not be read as a real decline. The three-year recent window sits approximately 109% above the prior three-year window, confirming the field’s Growth classification on a multi-year basis.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
B01D (separation processes) dominates at the record level by a wide margin, reflecting the centrality of absorption, adsorption, and membrane separation across CCUS workflows. C01B (inorganic compounds) and B01J (catalysis and chemical processes) form a secondary tier, while C25B (electrolytic production), F25J (gas liquefaction), and C02F (water treatment) represent lower-share but technically adjacent branches.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaFoundational and most-cited patents
The most-cited families that anchor this space. Hover a row and click to open it in Eureka.
High-efficiency carbon dioxide (CO2) capture ceram…
The present invention relates to a high-efficiency carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) capture ceramic filtration system and its application method. The system includes a carbon capture exhaust pipe configured to store a CO<sub>2 </sub>capture material. The key materials of the CO<sub>2 </sub>capture material are dolomite powder, coral powder, shell powder… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | New and improved system for processing various che… | 852 |
| 2 | Removal of carbon dioxide from air | 270 |
| 3 | Carbon Dioxide Capture and Mitigation of Carbon Di… | 268 |
| 4 | Sequestration of carbon dioxide | 266 |
| 5 | Amine enriched solid sorbents for carbon dioxide c… | 255 |
| 6 | Biochar | 244 |
| 7 | Carbonation of metal silicates for long-term CO2 s… | 241 |
| 8 | Zero/low emission and co-production energy supply … | 240 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts accrue over time, so this list favours older, broadly-cited patents and may include general-purpose work beyond the specific topic; treat it as foundational context rather than a current-activity ranking.
What the CCUS patent structure means for R&D investment decisions
The combination of strong multi-year growth, moderate top-tier concentration, active cross-sector collaboration, and US-led jurisdiction filings creates a specific risk-reward profile for new entrants and incumbents alike. The four cards below translate the structural evidence into actionable strategic reads.
Growth stage — expanding but past its 2023 annual peak
The field is classified as Growth: the recent three-year filing window sits 109% above the prior window, confirming sustained capital deployment. Annual volume peaked in 2023 and has eased since, though the most recent years are partially obscured by publication lag. For R&D planners, this stage means the technology frontier is still being defined and early movers can establish durable citation-anchor positions.
Growth stageModerate concentration with a visible leader gap
The top five filers account for 19% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total — moderate enough that no single player has locked up the field. The gap between the top-ranked GE Tech (754 families) and the next cluster creates a structural window for well-resourced challengers. Mid-tier applicants including national research bodies and universities fill a meaningful share of the ranking, suggesting the field rewards specialised technical depth as well as scale.
Moderate concentrationCorporate-to-university and intra-group co-filing are the dominant partnership patterns
The most active co-filing pair is Toshiba Corporation with Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions, sharing 82 co-filed families — a sign of intra-group IP coordination as business units restructure. Saudi Arabian Oil Co and Aramco Services Co co-file on 56 families, reflecting a similar integrated-company dynamic. ExxonMobil Technology & Engineering Co is the most outward-facing incumbent, co-filing with the University of California (33 families), Georgia Tech Research Corp (25 families), and TDA Research (25 families), signalling a deliberate academic-sourcing strategy for sorbent and process innovation.
Active collaborationUS-centric filing with strong PCT and EPO coverage
At the patent-record level, the United States leads all jurisdictions by a substantial margin, followed by WIPO PCT filings and the European Patent Office — patterns consistent with applicants seeking broad transatlantic protection for commercially scalable processes. Canada and Australia rank fourth and fifth respectively, reflecting both resource-sector interest and active domestic CCUS policy environments. China’s record count is notably lower than its overall patent activity in adjacent energy domains, pointing to a gap that could reflect strategic underfiling or differing prosecution timelines.
US-led, global reachGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| Toshiba Corporation | Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corp | 82 |
| Saudi Arabian Oil Co | Aramco Services Co | 56 |
| ExxonMobil Technology & Engineering Co | The Regents of the University of California | 33 |
| ExxonMobil Technology & Engineering Co | Georgia Tech Research Corp | 25 |
| ExxonMobil Technology & Engineering Co | TDA Research Inc | 25 |
| Alstom Technology Ltd | General Electric Tech GmbH | 20 |
| Saudi Arabian Oil Co | King Abdullah University of Science and Technology | 19 |
| Alstom Technology Ltd | Dow Global Technologies LLC | 18 |
| General Electric Tech GmbH | GE Vernova Infrastructure Technology LLC | 18 |
| Air Products & Chemicals Inc | General Electric Co | 14 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
GE Tech and ExxonMobil lead on volume; Saudi Aramco and Toshiba show the strongest recent momentum
The top applicants all converge on separation-process chemistry (B01D 53) as their primary technical anchor, but they diverge in secondary emphasis — ExxonMobil and CSIRO lean more heavily on adsorption and catalyst development (B01J 20), while Air Liquide and Air Products weight inorganic compound synthesis (C01B). Momentum trends reveal a field where some incumbents are accelerating while others have plateaued.
General Electric Tech GmbH
With 754 patent families, GE Tech holds the largest CCUS portfolio among the top hundred filers. Its technical emphasis centres on B01D 53 separation processes (203 records), supported by B01J 20 catalysis and C01B 32 inorganic compounds. Its recent-window momentum is classified as a new entrant trend in the applicant-momentum data, which in context reflects portfolio consolidation and re-registration under the current entity name rather than a genuinely new market participant — the underlying technology lineage traces to the legacy Alstom Tech Ltd position (278 families), with which GE Tech co-filed 20 families.
families: 754Saudi Arabian Oil Co
Saudi Arabian Oil Co ranks fifth overall with 331 patent families and shows the strongest momentum among major incumbents at +74% recent versus prior three-year period (125 recent families). Its technical focus mirrors the field’s dominant B01D 53 separation-process axis (233 records), with secondary weight on C01B 32 inorganic compounds (57 records) and B01J 20 catalysis (55 records). Its active co-filing with Aramco Services Co (56 families) and King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (19 families) suggests a deliberate strategy of pairing operational scale with university-sourced materials research.
families: 331| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| ExxonMobil Technology & Engineering Co | 77 | ▬ -4% |
| Saudi Arabian Oil Co | 125 | ▲ +74% |
| Toshiba Corporation | 56 | ▲ +47% |
| Air Liquide SA | 52 | ▲ +18% |
| Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) | 54 | ▬ +4% |
| Air Products & Chemicals Inc | 70 | ▲ new entrant |
| General Electric Co | 8 | ▲ new entrant |
| General Electric Tech GmbH | 91 | ▲ new entrant |
Under-served branches adjacent to the CCUS core
The IPC classes below each account for roughly 2% of total patent records in scope — sparse relative to the dominant B01D separation branch. They are adjacent to established CCUS workflows and carry plausible technical value, but sparsity alone does not confirm a commercial gap; entry-path feasibility should be validated independently.
C25B · Electrolytic production of compounds
With approximately 972 records at roughly 2% share of the technology composition, C25B covers electrochemical routes to converting captured CO2 into value-added products such as formate, methanol, or syngas. Electrochemical CO2 reduction is technically adjacent to carbon utilisation (the ‘U’ in CCUS) and complements renewable-electricity integration strategies. The current sparsity relative to thermal separation routes may reflect early technology-readiness levels; applicants with electrochemistry competencies from fuel-cell or electrolysis portfolios would have a plausible cross-domain entry path.
Search this in Eureka →F25J · Gas liquefaction & separation
F25J covers cryogenic and low-temperature gas separation processes, which are relevant to CO2 purification from flue gas, transport-ready liquefaction, and integration with LNG infrastructure. At approximately 724 records and roughly 2% share, this branch is under-represented relative to its role in full CCUS chain economics. Applicants with cryogenic engineering capability — particularly those already active in LNG or industrial gas — would find a technically coherent entry point, especially for offshore or ship-based capture systems where footprint constraints favour cryogenic over amine scrubbing.
Search this in Eureka →How leading CCUS applicants differ by technical route
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | B01D 53 · Separation processes (filtration etc.) | C01B 32 · Non-metallic elements & inorganic compounds | B01J 20 · Chemical/physical processes & catalysis | C01B 3 · Non-metallic elements & inorganic compounds | C01B 31 · Non-metallic elements & inorganic compounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alstom Technology Ltd | Strong · 488 | Moderate · 167 | Absent | Absent | Emerging · 26 |
| ExxonMobil Technology & Engineering Co | Strong · 367 | Moderate · 101 | Strong · 185 | Absent | Absent |
| Air Products & Chemicals Inc | Strong · 206 | Strong · 149 | Absent | Moderate · 45 | Moderate · 42 |
| Air Liquide SA | Strong · 208 | Strong · 121 | Absent | Moderate · 71 | Emerging · 34 |
| Toshiba Corporation | Strong · 246 | Strong · 133 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| General Electric Co | Strong · 204 | Strong · 120 | Absent | Absent | Emerging · 22 |
| Saudi Arabian Oil Co | Strong · 233 | Absent | Moderate · 55 | Moderate · 50 | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 11,749 patent families globally. Jurisdiction and IPC branch figures are at the patent-record level, which means a single family can appear under multiple offices or IPC classes, so those counts independently exceed the family total.
General Electric Tech GmbH leads the applicant ranking with 754 patent families, ahead of ExxonMobil Technology & Engineering Co at 512 and Air Products & Chemicals at 372, based on the top-100 applicant list.
The field is in a Growth stage: the recent three-year filing window is approximately 109% above the prior three-year window. Annual volume peaked in 2023 and has eased since, but the most recent years (2025–2026) are systematically under-counted due to publication lag and should not be interpreted as a real decline.
At the patent-record level, the United States leads all jurisdictions, followed by WIPO PCT filings and the European Patent Office. Canada and Australia rank fourth and fifth, reflecting strong resource-sector and policy-driven interest in those markets.
B01D (separation processes including absorption, adsorption, and membranes) dominates the IPC composition at the record level by a wide margin. C01B (non-metallic elements and inorganic compounds) and B01J (chemical and physical processes, catalysis) form a secondary tier.
Among major incumbents with trackable prior-period data, Saudi Arabian Oil Co shows the strongest momentum at +74% in the recent three-year window versus the prior window, reaching 125 recent families. Air Products & Chemicals and Toshiba Corporation also show positive momentum at new-entrant classification and +47% respectively.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from PatSnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
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