Life Cycle Environmental Performance of Carbon Capture Technologies: A Review and Future Perspectives from Materials to Ecosystems

Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies represent critical interventions for climate change mitigation, yet their environmental sustainability remains inadequately characterized across technological pathways and deployment scales. This comprehensive review synthesizes quantitative environmental performance data to establish evidence-based benchmarks for sustainable implementation. Postcombustion capture systems impose energy penalties of 20–30% with water consumption of 1.5–3.5 m3/tCO2, while advanced nanoengineered materials achieve CO2 adsorption capacities reaching 9.9 mmol/g. Direct air capture (DAC) exhibits a water consumption of 0.7–19.8 m3/tCO2, with solid sorbents demonstrating 56–64% carbon efficiency. Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) requires 333–575 m3/tCO2, potentially doubling anthropogenic water use on climate-relevant scales. Geological sequestration reveals mineral carbonation permanently immobilizes 49–83% of injected CO2, with global storage capacity of 8000–55,000 GtCO2, though environmental risks, including induced seismicity, groundwater contamination, and ecosystem disruption, require comprehensive assessments. Comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) identifies precombustion Selexol systems achieving lowest energy requirements (2.01 MJ/kgCO2) and costs (€19.94/tCO2), while monoethanolamine (MEA) absorption exhibits the highest global warming potential (219.53 kgCO2-equiv/MWh). Critical knowledge gaps persist in systematic environmental performance assessments, particularly regarding cumulative impacts of water consumption, chemical waste generation, and long-term storage integrity. Environmental sustainability of CCS deployment depends primarily on technology selection, geographic context, resource availability, and integration of comprehensive life cycle frameworks quantifying carbon footprint, water footprint, land use, and ecosystem impact to ensure net environmental benefits.