Synthetic carbohydrate compounds and their integration with renewable electricity supplies

The world runs a serious risk of sliding into catastrophic climate change. It is to all practical purposes impossible to bring the emissions of greenhouse gases to a halt straight away. This article discusses a number of sources of uncertainty and the possibility of bias in climate forecasting. It identifies a specific approach towards rapid decarbonization combined with a systematic reduction in fossil fuel extraction: the manufacture of synthetic hydrocarbon compounds for use as fuel as well as plastics, using carbon dioxide from power stations and cement factories as feedstock during a transitional phase. Policymakers and even researchers working on renewable energy seem to be insufficiently aware of the potential of this mature chemical technology to reduce emissions. The paper also surveys several economic and managerial issues regarding the implementation of the transition to a world using only renewable energy, and provides some information concerning the latest state of the technology of renewable electricity generation.