CO2 is the
staff of life
for our planet.
It's also waste gas
most likely responsible
for some global warming.
The UN's IPCC guesses
"over 50%" of the warming.
Not very precise.
The correct answer is
"No one knows".
The UN's IPCC says
future global warming
will be fast, and dangerous.
They have been
saying that
since 1988.
I stopped
listening
in 1989.
Global warming
in the last 79 years
of adding CO2
to the atmosphere,
since 1940,
has been intermittent,
mild, harmless, and
mainly affected cold,
dry areas, that actually
enjoy warming.
So I have no agreement
with the IPCC, because
they live in a climate
fantasyland -- making
scary predictions
of a future climate,
that have been wrong
since 1988.
I live in realityland --
observing and reporting
actual climate change,
never wasting your time
with "It will be different
in the future" fairy tales.
I favor more CO2
in the atmosphere,
to accelerate plant
growth, which will
better support
healthy lives
on this planet.
That statement
is based on over
3,000 scientific
studies the IPCC
could not care
less about.
They are too busy
falsely demonizing CO2,
a self serving strategy
to make themselves
appear to be relevant.
“CO2 utilization”
is an industrial process
that makes an economically
valuable product using CO2
at concentrations above
atmospheric levels.
CO2 is transformed
into materials, chemicals
or fuels, using chemical
reactions.
Or CO2 is used directly
in processes such as
enhanced oil recovery.
Using CO2 to make
a valuable product
would be good news.
CO2 utilization does not
necessarily mean it would
reduce global warming.
Not if the CO2 utilization
required a fossil fuel
energy-intensive process,
NOT using nuclear, hydro,
solar or wind power.
Two general types of
CO2 Utilization:
(A)
industrial processes
involve involve pulling
CO2 out of the air —
from exhaust gases
of industrial facilities
(aka "carbon capture"),
or out of
the ambient air,
via direct air
capture (DAC) ,
concentrating it,
and using it as
an industrial
feedstock.
(B)
Natural ways of gathering
more CO2, ranging from
planting more forests,
to sequestering more
carbon in the soil.
Lower Cost
Technologies,
with high potential:
CO2-enhanced oil recovery (EOR)
Enhanced oil recovery means
CO2 is injected in spent wells
to squeeze out more oil and gas.
Normally, operators try to
maximize the oil and CO2
recovered from the well.
But EOR could be operated
so more CO2 is injected,
and permanently stored
underground, than the CO2
later released as people later
burn the gasoline and
natural gas from the wells.
The cost should be low,
but burning the gasoline
and natural gas later
offsets much of the
potential.
Concrete building materials
These are close to
cost-competitive
and have great potential.
Concrete is a mix
of cement, water,
and aggregates.
Cement is
a fine powder.
When activated
by the water,
it binds the
aggregates
into a rigid mix.
Aggregates can be made
by converting gaseous CO2
into solid mineral carbonates
like calcium carbonate
(CaCO3),
a process known as
“CO2 mineralization.”
CO2 can also be
substituted for water
in “curing” concrete
during its mixing,
actually making
the resulting concrete
stronger, in addition
to saving a lot of water.
Cement can be phased out
in favor of new binding agents
that absorb and mineralize CO2.
The production process
for cement and lime
involves chemical reactions
(not fossil fuel combustion)
that release CO2.
Scientists are working on
that process releasing
a purer CO2 that can
be captured, then used
as a CO2-mineralizing
bonding agent, mixed
with CO2-based aggregates.
The resulting building
materials would
semi-permanently
store carbon (CO2).
Some of these
technologies are known,
relatively low energy,
and could sequester
a lot of carbon in concrete
for a long period of time
-- although concrete
does not last forever.
CO2 chemicals
and other materials
and other materials
Reducing CO2
to its components
using catalysts and
chemical reactions
is used to make methanol,
urea (fertilizer) and
polymers (durable parts
in buildings or cars).
Polymers, urea,
and methanol
are already
cost-competitive,
but their potential
for CO2 use is small.
CO2 can also be be made
into high-performance
carbon composites,
carbon fiber, and
graphene, that could
substitute for some uses
of other materials.
Such as metals
and concrete.
A team at C2CNT
is transforming CO2
into carbon nanotubes,
stronger than steel
and highly conductive.
They are already used
in the Boeing Dreamliner
and some sports cars.
Think of substituting
light weight carbon nanotubes
for copper in electricity wiring.
Unfortunately this is
still too expensive
for almost all
potential
applications.
Steel making
is said to cause
7% to 9% of global
CO2 emissions
from using fossil
fuels in the process.
Carbon-based materials
substituted for steel
could mean billions
of tons of reduced
CO2 emissions, and
near permanent
carbon sequestration.
Bioenergy with
carbon capture
and storage
(BECCS)
The operator
captures CO2
by growing trees,
produces electricity
through bioenergy
and sequesters
the resulting
CO2 emissions.
Moderate cost,
but the potential
for CO2 use is small.
Biochar
Biochar is plant material
that has been burnt at
high temperatures
under low oxygen levels.
Biochar applied to
agricultural soils
has the potential
to increase crop
yields by 10%.
Moderate cost,
but very hard to make
a consistent product,
and the potential
for CO2 use is small.
Soil carbon sequestration
Land management techniques
to store CO2 in the soil
and also enhance
agricultural yields.
Low to moderate cost,
but the potential
for CO2 use is small.
Forestry
Timber from both new
and existing forests
used for building
structures,
displacing
cement, brick
and steel use.
The CO2 is then stored
in the wood buildings
for a long time.
Inexpensive, but the
potential for CO2 use
is small, unless used for
more structures than
just single family homes.
High Cost Technologies:
CO2 fuels
Gasoline,
diesel,
and jet fuel
are made
by refining
hydrocarbons
drilled from
underground.
"Synthetic fuels"
can be made
with carbon
from the air
instead.
There are many
different processes,
and synthetic fuels
can substitute
for any liquid fuel.
They are a mix
of a carbon-based
molecule (usually CO2),
hydrogen, and energy.
If the CO2 comes
from the ambient air,
the electricity comes
rom renewables,
and the hydrogen
comes from
solar-powered
electrolysis
(which pulls hydrogen
directly out of water),
the resulting fuel
is extremely
low carbon.
Carbon-neutral
liquid fuels
are a huge
potential
market
for CO2.
But it takes a lot of energy
to electrolyze hydrogen
and it takes even more
to pry CO2 apart.
Extremely cheap
renewable energy
would make synthetic
fuels work -- perhaps
dedicated to the
synthetic fuel facility.
Cheap renewables
do not exist today.
Carbon-neutral liquid fuels
also don’t remove CO2
from the atmosphere.
They "recycle" CO2 once,
and then put it back
into the atmosphere
when the synthetics
are burned.
Microalgae
-- experimental
Using microalgae
to fix CO2,
then processing
the biomass
to make products,
such as fuels and
high-value chemicals.
This has been
researched for
many years.
High potential cost,
and very low use of CO2
Enhanced weathering
-- experimental
Crushing rocks,
such as basalt,
and spreading them
on land can result in the
accelerated formation
of stable carbonate
from atmospheric CO2.
Doing this on agricultural
lands should result
in higher yields.
But it is just
another
interesting idea
at this time.