October has been the ‘eye of the storm’ for a busy and mostly glass half-full CCUS conference season (with COP30 – and its new ‘CDR30’ emphasis on carbon removals – still to come). Away from the plenaries and panel sessions, we’ve also seen a Nobel Prize for Chemistry awarded to three teams for the discovery of metal organic frameworks (MOFs) – thrilling recognition and (scientifically) very close to home. It has also been a month with some big numbers (not all positive), some big promises (encouraging), a continued North/South of the border contrast in North America, and a good ‘blast from the past’ from Boundary Dam, namely a reminder that CCS does work at scale, with that project now clearing 7 million tonnes of captured CO2 to date. The three big numbers setting the trend (if not the surprise) were the EUR6bn industrial decarbonization programme in Germany, the USD7.6bn of clean energy projects cancelled in the US, and the claims that Chinese carbon capture projects could see 55-70% lower capex/tonne than those in the West. In general, these tell familiar stories – policy momentum in Europe, project funding cuts in the US and the ‘known unknown’ of progress in China. There’s also continued ‘positive noise’ from Canada, with more support for energy innovation and a number of DAC-related projects including Deep Sky’s work in Manitoba. And an October ‘word cloud’ for Europe would see ‘biogenic removals’ at its centre, with numerous examples like Nordbex/Aker Solutions collaborating on Bio-CCUS, Schneider Electric/Climeworks signing a 31,000t removal deal, Vantaa Carbon Capture (Finish W2E; waste-to-energy) planning to issue 300,000 carbon removals per year, and BASF licensing Andritz to use OASE® blue at a planned W2E project in Denmark. Heading East, there was good activity in the Middle East/Asia, with QatarEnergy stating an aim for 11Mtpa of CCS by 2035, Sirona launching its Moringa project in Oman, GE Vernova launching a feasibility study with YTL PowerSeraya in Singapore (CCGT CO2 capture), bp exploring CCUS pilots in India, Mitsui joining PTTEP for the first CCS project in Thailand, and the startup of the Hyundai E&C-led Pyeongtaek CCU demo plant (30ktpa CO2). And new tech momentum continues, especially for carbon removals-related themes, including Microsoft’s deal with Canadian firm Arca’s industrial mineralization (approx. 300,000 tonnes over the next decade), True North Carbon’s Tamarack Project in Alberta, Etex/Heidelberg Materials’ low carbon cement technology, Promethean Particles’ tonne-scale MOF manufacture, and Skytree’s DAC-sourced beverage grade CO2.  The final word for October – the most ‘click-worthy’ story – has of course to go to the Nobel Prize-winning teams behind MOF discovery; ‘adjusting’ for this world-scale achievement, one other top industry headline has to be from Asia, namely that CO2 capture capex in China could be 55-70% lower than the West. Apples-to-apples comparisons are vital, but the regional cost competition (T&S and now capture capex) continues to gather data.