Recycling Carbon Dioxide

Burning fossil fuels results in the emission of 27 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide worldwide every year. By 2030, that figure will climb 60% to 43 billion metric tons.

(Incidentally, one metric ton of CO₂ occupies about 556 cubic meters, approximately the volume of a 3-bedroom house.)

What are we going to do with all that CO₂?

We could corral the gas through Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies. But CCS is expensive and will not be widely available for years.

The alternative, say a number of researchers and companies, is to recycle the carbon.

That's right. You can recycle practically anything these days. Why not CO₂?

Through a technology called electro-reduction of carbon dioxide (ERC), scientists can take CO2 directly from industrial waste gases and convert it to formate salts and/or formic acid. Both chemicals are widely used in industrial applications. Or the CO2 can be recycled into algal fuel or methanol.

What's more, whereas CCS is a net cost to industry, ERC technology could bring in net revenues.

Plus, ERC can be ramped up relatively quickly. A demonstration ERC unit could be installed within a year, or a commercial plant within 2 years.

Recycling -- it's everywhere you never expected it to be.

(Source of story: Global Spec.)