Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology is an effective technical means for addressing climate change. The patent documents related to CCS technology filed in China and the United States (U.S.) were searched from INNOGRAPHY, a business database of intellectual property and the technological innovation capabilities of CCS technology were investigated from the perspectives of the lifespan of a patent, the number of claims, the number of forward citations, patent strength and competitive position based on a comparative study between China and the U.S. The results showed that the U.S. has an obvious advantage over the technological innovation capabilities compared to China in the field of CCS technology. The global total number of granted patents in the field of CCStechnology was 2325 by the end of 2015, there were 703 and 468 granted patents in U.S. and China respectively. CCS technology in the U.S. has arrived at the stage of growth, or even maturity but is still at the research and development stage in China. Although the number of patents for Chinese CCS technologies is very close to that of the U.S. and is ranked second, China should be focused on enhancing its technological capabilities and patent quality. The policy implications of these research findings and the research limitations are also noted. © 2018 by the authors.
