Using CO2 as a feedstock could slash emissions

Abstract

Using carbon dioxide as a chemical feedstock instead of oil would reduce annual global greenhouse gas emissions by about 3.5 billion metric tons (t) in 2030. This estimate, based on a new model of the chemical industry, is about an order of magnitude greater reduction than previous ones (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2019, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1821029116). Without an in-depth life-cycle analysis of CO2 use by the chemical industry, scientists have previously estimated it would mitigate about 200 million t of CO2 per year. Sangwon Suh, an environmental scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, collaborated with Andre Bardow, an expert in chemical life-cycle analysis at RWTH Aachen University, to fill in the details. Their work is based on a quantitative data set that includes details about the processes involved in emerging technologies for using captured CO2 and renewable energy to make chemicals such as methane, olefins, and styrene. They