Reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions urgently requires the large-scale deployment of carbon-capture technologies. These technologies must separate CO₂ from various sources and deliver it to different sinks^1,2. The quest for optimal solutions for specific source–sink pairs is a complex, multi-objective challenge involving multiple stakeholders and depends on social, economic and regional contexts. Currently, research follows a sequential approach: chemists focus on materials design³ and engineers on optimizing processes^4,5, which are then operated at a scale that impacts the economy and the environment. Assessing these impacts, such as the greenhouse gas emissions over the plant’s lifetime, is typically one of the final steps⁶. Here we introduce the PrISMa (Process-Informed design of tailor-made Sorbent Materials) platform, which integrates materials, process design, techno-economics and life-cycle assessment. We compare more than 60 case studies capturing CO₂ from various sources in 5 global regions using different technologies. The platform simultaneously informs various stakeholders about the cost-effectiveness of technologies, process configurations and locations, reveals the molecular characteristics of the top-performing sorbents, and provides insights on environmental impacts, co-benefits and trade-offs. By uniting stakeholders at an early research stage, PrISMa accelerates carbon-capture technology development during this critical period as we aim for a net-zero world.

减少二氧化碳（CO ₂ ）排放迫切需要大规模部署碳捕获技术。这些技术必须将CO ₂从各种来源中分离出来，并将其输送到不同的汇^1,2 。寻求特定源-汇对的最佳解决方案是一项复杂的、多目标的挑战，涉及多个利益相关者，并且取决于社会、经济和区域背景。目前，研究遵循顺序方法：化学家专注于材料设计³ ，工程师专注于优化工艺^4,5 ，然后以影响经济和环境的规模进行操作。评估这些影响（例如工厂生命周期内的温室气体排放）通常是最后步骤之一⁶ 。在这里，我们介绍 PrISMa（定制吸附材料的过程知情设计）平台，该平台集成了材料、工艺设计、技术经济和生命周期评估。我们比较了 60 多个使用不同技术从全球 5 个地区的不同来源捕获 CO _{2 的}案例研究。该平台同时向各利益相关者通报技术、工艺配置和地点的成本效益，揭示最佳吸附剂的分子特征，并提供有关环境影响、协同效益和权衡的见解。通过在早期研究阶段联合利益相关者，PrISMa 加速了这一关键时期碳捕获技术的开发，因为我们的目标是实现净零世界。