Chapter 2 - Basic principles of CO2 capture and conversion technologies

Abstract

The inception of the Industrial Revolution contributed to the steep rise in carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration globally. Apart from transitioning to low-carbon alternatives, the trend sparked intensive focused solutions that seek to capture CO2 to achieve net-zero emissions. CO2 capture technologies can be classified as postcombustion, precombustion, and oxyfuel combustion; each with distinctive differences in terms of working principles and advantages/disadvantages. At present, absorption is commonly adopted due to its technological maturity, removal efficiency, and commercial availability to remove industrial-generated anthropogenic emissions. Furthermore, as innovations in carbon capture technologies mature, high research interests are also inclined toward converting captured CO2 into marketable commodity products by means of various conversion technologies, such as electrolysis, photocatalysis, biohybrid, nanoporous confinement, and CO2-based polymer synthesis by chain insertion technologies. This book chapter reviews various CO2 capture and conversion technologies, their technological limitations and prospects as a potential game-changer for the by-production of fuel and building materials via CO2 conversion.