Last year the World Economic Forum (WEF) published the report “Defossilizing Industry: Considerations for Scaling-up Carbon Capture and Utilization Pathways”. It highlights how carbon capture and utilization (CCU) can support industrial defossilization and what barriers need to be addressed to bring these solutions to scale and is still worth to read. (weforum.org)

For Power-to-X stakeholders, the findings are highly relevant. Many Power-to-X pathways rely on recycled CO₂ as a feedstock for producing e-fuels and other synthetic products. The ability to access affordable, policy-supported CO₂ streams will therefore be a decisive factor for scaling.

Challenges identified by WEF

The report stresses four main barriers that directly affect Power-to-X development:

Uneven policy frameworks Current incentives often prioritize storage over utilization. This makes it harder for CCU-based Power-to-X solutions to compete. Financing gaps Technologies face a “valley of death” between pilot and commercial scale. Without long-term, risk-tolerant capital, many projects struggle to advance. Cross-sector coordination CCU requires integration with existing industries. For Power-to-X, this means cooperation across energy, chemicals, transport, and infrastructure. Cost and scalability Production costs remain high. Only large-scale projects, combined with continuous innovation, can bring prices down to competitive levels.

What it means for Power-to-X

The report underlines that scaling Power-to-X will depend not only on technology but also on enabling conditions:

Clear and predictable regulation that rewards utilization as well as storage Infrastructure build-out for CO₂ transport and renewable hydrogen supply Public-private partnerships that de-risk investment in demonstration projects Demand creation through offtake agreements, carbon pricing, or product standards

In short, Power-to-X cannot grow in isolation. It needs supportive ecosystems, markets, and policy frameworks aligned with CCU.

Outlook

The WEF analysis provides a timely reminder that the future of industrial defossilization will be shaped by how quickly CCU pathways can scale. For Power-to-X, this means continued advocacy for fair frameworks, collaboration across industries, and strategic investment into demonstration and scale-up.

The full report is available here: World Economic Forum – Defossilizing Industry.