CO2 recycling to fuels and materials: emerging large scale applications

Current concerns on increasing CO2 emissions (estimated at 28.8 Gt for 2007 and forecast at 40.3 Gt by 2030 in the IEA scenario), and issues related to ongoing efforts related to CO2 capture-and-storage are increasing the attention on sustainable CO2 chemical and biochemical recycling pathways. While an evident mismatch is apparent between the amount of CO2 evolved and the CO2 currently fixed chemically, CO2 recycling is emerging as one of the possible strategies to more efficient CO2 emissions management- and not exclusively as storage alternative.[p]Beside non chemical usages of CO2 (EOR, solvent, refrigerant, ¼) which are also important but will not be addressed here, several chemical processes are emerging around CO2 recycling presenting specific answers to policy, economics, or most importantly changes in the energy supply chain. Some aspects of these emerging routes, most of them heavily dependent on the emergence of adequate catalytic systems, will be reviewed here.