CO2 Valorisation

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CO2 Valorisation Enablers for Carbon
Capture Burgeoning pressure to limit greenhouse
gas emissions is transforming the way businesses
operate. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is among the
prominent greenhouse gases contributing to
escalate global warming. The holistic process of
capturing and recycling CO2 irrespective of its
emission sources, comprising automobiles,
wildfire, livestock, industries, fossil fuel
combustion for residential and commercial
purposes, etc., is known as carbon capture
utilisation (CCU). However, CO2 valorisation
involves extraction and utilisation of CO2 and
carbon monoxide gases, specifically emitted as
industrial waste. As per the data published by
the 2041 Foundation, around 2.3 trillion tonnes
of CO2 have been released into the atmosphere
since the commencement of the industrial era.
Almost half of this enormous volume has already
been stored in geological, biological, and
hydrological sources via carbon sequestration,
with the remainder suspended in the atmosphere.
This has resulted in a rapid and persistent
increase in the concentration of atmospheric CO2
from 275 parts per million (ppm) in 1750 to 415
ppm in 2020. According to the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, the industrial sector emitted
24 percent of the total volume of greenhouse
gases emitted by all established sectors in the
US from 2019 to 2020. In December 2015, French
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius officially
unveiled the Paris Agreement-a legally binding
international accord on climate change signed by
196 Parties with the common objective of
limiting the impact of global warming. Moreover,
several nations are drafting and imposing
stringent environmental guidelines for industries
to promote the capture and recycling of gas in
an efficient mode as an attempt to control the
rising CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. By
employing valorisation approaches, CO2 can be
extensively used in manufacturing valuable
combustible compounds, such as alcohols, methane,
synthetic fuels, etc. If executed efficiently,
these approaches can revolutionise the energy
sector, opening avenues toward an unexplored
segment of the gigantic renewable energy
market. Besides the energy sector, CO2 has
widespread applications in other industries.

• In the agriculture sector, crop yield can be
  increased significantly by maintaining the
  levels of CO2 in the vegetative area, which can
  be accomplished by directly releasing captured
  CO2 into the surroundings. Moreover, carbon is a
  key ingredient in urea fertiliser. Thus,
  captured CO2 can be utilised as a carbon source
  in fertiliser production.
• Captured CO2 can be effectively consumed or
  utilised in the building construction sector.
  CO2 gas can be converted into mineralised form by
  binding it with magnesium or calcium to form
  bricks, or it can be incorporated into cement.
• Captured CO2 can be recycled in the plastics
  industry by substituting fossil fuels and come
  ahead as a key carbon source for producing
  wide-ranging plastic polymers such as
  polypropylene carbonates, polyurethane, and
  polycarbonates.
• Captured CO2 plays a vital role in the beverage
  industry, as it can be used as an apt source in
  manufacturing fizzy or carbonated drinks, which
  is an excellent way of recycling compressed gas.

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Most of the challenges associated with
valorisation are based on the source of CO2. Some
of the impediments include wide-ranging carbon
capture and transportation cost, technological
complexities, energy intensity input, and the
duration of CO2 immobilisation. IEA has
published the estimated CO2 capture cost from
various sources. Capturing carbon through
natural gas processing would cost 15 to 25 USD
per tonne. However, capturing CO2 directly from
the atmosphere is the most complicated and
expensive approach, with an extraction expense
of 134 to 342 USD per tonne. To cut annual
emissions of greenhouse gases, industries are
engrossed in developing and swiftly adopting
cost-effective approaches to capture treat
released CO2. The basic yet highly effective
principle behind any such approach is the
integration of emitted CO2 in the production
processes. For instance, Covestro, a German-based
high-tech polymer materials manufacturer and
supplier, has adopted an innovative approach of
utilising captured CO2 to manufacture
sustainable foams, Cardyon. In addition,
compared to the conventional method of
manufacturing isocyanate a crucial component in
flexible foam, just 40 percent of the energy is
consumed through Covestros gas phase
technology. Ingenious e-Brain Solutions (IEBS)
anticipates that reaching net zero by 2050 would
require rapid deployment of available low-carbon
technologies as well as the widespread use of
technologies that are not on the market yet CO2
capture volume is expected to increase
marginally over the next ten years from the
current level of 40 MtCO2 per year. We believe
international collaboration substantial
investment in innovation will drive down the
cost and accelerate the deployment of CCU at
large-scale. The overall market for CO2
utilisation is relatively small and will remain a
niche market Most of the captured CO2 will be
sequestered rather than utilised due to the
emergence of early buyers' options for carbon
offsetting. Click here to get better acquainted
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