carbon capture

noun

plural carbon captures

1

: any of various methods of removing carbon dioxide (as from industrial emissions) to reduce its presence in the atmosphere

Carbon capture can be applied to large-scale emissions processes, including coal and gas-fired power generation …

—Global CCS Institute

Direct ocean carbon capture operations look a bit like desalination or wastewater treatment plants, though something quite different is going on inside their systems of filters, tubes, pumps and tanks.

—Brooke Staggs

Aramco has developed an innovative mobile carbon capture system that sharply reduces CO₂ emissions from a heavy-duty truck.

—Oil and Gas Climate Initiative

also : such a method combined with storing the carbon dioxide to keep it from entering the atmosphere : carbon capture and storage

Those bent on bringing down the fossil-fuel industry are also less than thrilled with the … push for technologies such as carbon capture, which removes and stores carbon emissions …

—Valerie Richardson

2

: the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by living vegetation : carbon sequestration

Plants perform carbon capture every day through photosynthesis, and they actually do so quite well.

—Patrick Biller

Trees are nature's best carbon capture technology and have been working to clean the air since the first leafy frond appeared on Earth …

—Georgette Kilgore

Examples of carbon capture in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Today, carbon capture is far from being deployed at scale, despite billions of dollars in investments around the world, and the amount of carbon currently captured is just a tiny fraction of the billions of tons of carbon dioxide emitted every year. —Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 5 Sep. 2025

Light powers carbon capture Direct air capture is crucial in the fight against climate change, but energy-intensive methods have limited widespread adoption. —Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 4 Sep. 2025

Subsequent technology tiers encompass further opportunities in direct electrification, as well as carbon capture and storage, the use of clean hydrogen, and the use of clean chemical feedstocks. —Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025

This leads to healthier dirt and better carbon capture. —Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 2 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1971, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for carbon capture

• rapture
• recapture