Perspectives in advance technologies/strategies for combating rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere via CO2 utilisation: A review

Abstract

This review provides exhaustive literature on carbon dioxide (CO2) capture, storage and utilization. CO2 is one of the greenhouse gas, emitted into the atmosphere and has reached an alarming level of well above 400 ppm. The consequences of rising CO2 levels and global warming are visual in day today life such as floods, wildfires, droughts and irregular precipitation cycles. Several reviews, focused on a particular topic, have been published since the 19th century and recently. However, in this review, we have attempted to cover all the CO2 mitigation techniques available for their advantages and disadvantages have been discussed. The blooming technology of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and the pros and cons of CO2 capture, transportation and storage techniques are showcased. Interestingly the transportation of captured CO2 to the potential storage sites requires more than 50% of the total energy budget, therefore, this review is dedicated to the onsite CO2 conversion into value-added chemicals. Various technological advancements for CO2 conversion into other products by the solar thermochemical, electrochemical and photochemical processes have been analysed. From the extensive literature, it’s demonstrated that NTP (Non-Thermal Plasma) is one of the emerging techniques for the direct conversion of CO2 into value-added products as it is energetically efficient. The mechanisms of CO2 activation by thermal and NTP-catalysis have been discussed. Moreover, the benefits of DBD to obtain oxygenates like methanol, aldehydes, acids, and hydrocarbons from direct one-pot synthesis are discussed. The production of such value-added chemicals from CO2 is of prime importance as it will be our step towards a carbon-neutral economy which is the need of the hour. This review has also attempted to compare the cost-effectiveness of current existing techniques for CO2 capture and utilized solar to fuel efficiency to compare distinct technologies available for the utilization of CO2 to value-added chemicals.