Mapping opportunities to decarbonize the U.S. pulp and paper industry

The U.S. pulp and paper industry, which accounts for 9% of industrial energy consumption, offers significant potential for net-negative emissions through CCS due to its reliance on waste biomass. A new mapping tool evaluates facilities based on capture costs, capture potential, storage costs, infrastructure clustering, and co-benefits. The analysis identifies the Gulf Coast—specifically Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas—as having the highest opportunity scores. While private sector interest is growing, the document argues that the 45Q tax credit requires enhancement and regulatory certainty for transport infrastructure is needed to scale these technologies.

• The U.S. pulp and paper industry represents 9 percent of total industrial energy consumption and 2.5 percent of domestic industrial greenhouse gas emissions, with the potential for net-negative CO2 emissions if carbon capture and storage (CCS) is applied to facilities using waste biomass.
• A mapping tool evaluates U.S. facilities using five metrics: capture cost (scoring high at or below $85/ton), capture potential (scoring high above 1,000,000 MT), storage cost (scoring high below $16/ton), infrastructure clustering (proximity to other emitters), and environmental/economic co-benefits.
• The Gulf Coast region, particularly Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, shows the highest potential for decarbonization due to lower storage costs, proximity to geologic formations, and existing CO2 infrastructure. Louisiana's seven facilities average a composite opportunity score of over 13 out of 15.

APA

Ulama, D. (2025). Mapping opportunities to decarbonize the U.S. pulp and paper industry. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/2025/12/mapping-opportunities-decarbonize-us-pulp-paper-industry/

Chicago

Ulama, Darryle. Mapping opportunities to decarbonize the U.S. pulp and paper industry. Clean Air Task Force, 2025. https://www.catf.us/2025/12/mapping-opportunities-decarbonize-us-pulp-paper-industry/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ulama |first1=Darryle |title=Mapping opportunities to decarbonize the U.S. pulp and paper industry |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=2 December 2025 |url=https://www.catf.us/2025/12/mapping-opportunities-decarbonize-us-pulp-paper-industry/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ulama2025mapping, author = {Ulama, Darryle}, title = {{Mapping opportunities to decarbonize the U.S. pulp and paper industry}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2025}, month = dec, url = {https://www.catf.us/2025/12/mapping-opportunities-decarbonize-us-pulp-paper-industry/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }