CCU is a broad term that covers processes that aim at capturing CO₂ from flue gas or directly from the air and converting it into a variety of products such as renewable fuels, chemicals, and materials. CO₂ has already been used for decades with mature technologies in various industrial processes to produce e.g. beverages, fertilisers, etc. But today, numerous new CCU technologies at various stages of development and commercialisation aim at mitigating climate change. These technologies have the potential to

• reduce net CO₂ emissions,
• remove CO₂ from the air,
• provide substitutes for carbon-intensive and fossil-based products,
• store and transport renewable energy,
• generate marketable products.

CCU is a circular approach that converts and stores CO₂ into essential products. The duration of the CO₂ storage into a product strongly varies from days to centuries according to the applications. However, CCU should not be assessed only with respect to the duration and/or capacity of storage in a product, but rather with a comprehensive life-cycle analysis of the CO₂-based product generated. If CO₂ based products can be produced with lower climate impact than conventional ones or if CO₂ is captured again at the end of life of the CCU products, in both cases, a climate benefit can be asserted independently of the duration of CO₂ storage in the product.