Catalytic hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to methanol under supercritical conditions

Abstract

Interest in energy storage technologies is increasing steadily in times of the German energy transition (“Energiewende”). Excess electricity generated by wind farms or solar plants can be transformed to solar-hydrogen via water electrolysis, which can be converted with carbon dioxide into methanol. Here, we present a process for continuously catalytic hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to methanol under supercritical conditions over self-made Cu/ZnO/Al 2 O 3 catalysts.