Pollution to solution: Capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2) and its utilization as a renewable energy source for a sustainable future

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.01.011Get rights and content

Highlights

  • This review presents the impact of CO2 on the environment, and a mitigation strategy to reduce this impact.

  • It discusses CCS technology and challenges to its implementation.

  • It discusses in detail about biofuel (renewable energy) that can be produced using CO2 as a feedstock.

  • This review shows the important of renewable energy as global energy source in future.

Abstract

The major contributor to global warming is human-generated greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions that pollute the air. GHGs emissions are a global issue dominated by emission of carbon dioxide (CO2). Notably, CO2 accounts for an estimated 77% of GHGs and thus has a huge impact on the environment. The capture, sequestration, and utilization of CO2 emissions from flue gas are now becoming familiar worldwide. These methods are a promising solution to promote sustainability for the benefit of future generations. Previously, many researchers have focused on capturing and storing CO2; however, less effort has been spent on finding ways to utilize flue gas emissions. Moreover, several issues must be overcome in the field of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology, especially regarding the cost, capacity of storage and the durability of the storage reservoir. In addition, this paper addresses new technology in carbon capture and sequestration. To make CCS technology more feasible, this paper suggests a sustainable method combining CCS and biofuel production using CO2 as a feedstock. This method offers many advantages, such as CO2 emission mitigation and energy security through the production of renewable energy. Due to the many advantages of biofuels, the conversion of CO2 into biofuel is a best practice and may provide a solution to pollution while encouraging sustainability practises.

Introduction

There is an excessive volume of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmospheric system and broad consensus that this will have serious consequences in terms of climate change. Industrial flue gas emissions include carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (Nox), hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter and sulphur dioxide (SO2), which almost all of these emissions are GHGs [1], [2]. These emissions endanger human health, agricultural crops, forest species, various ecosystems and the overall environment as they enhance the greenhouse effect and hence contribute to global climate change [3]. Greenhouse gases emissions contain about 77% CO2 [4]. According to recent IPCC reports, the global mean concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is now close to 400 ppm; however, the most comprehensive research states that the safe level of CO2 concentration is below 350 ppm [5].

Therefore, this paper suggests a solution that can both reduce the pollution caused by CO2 emissions and also utilize that CO2 to enhance sustainability for the benefit of future generations. To achieve this goal, the following objectives has been set:

  • i.

    To discover the major source of CO2 emissions and determine its effect on the environment;

  • ii.

    To discover measures to mitigate pollution, which is CCS technologies, find the major challenge of CCS, and found that the storage and implementation is the major drawback;

  • iii.

    To provide an idea for the use of CO2 as a feedstock of biofuel production.

In the past, the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere occurred mainly via photosynthesis, in which crops and other plants naturally consume CO2 and sunlight and release oxygen [6], [7]. However, due to recent rapid industrial development, plants alone are no longer able to deal with the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and remove it naturally [8].

A certain amount of GHGs exists in the atmospheric system and helps to absorb thermal radiation from the earth's surface and then re-emits the radiation back to the earth as shown in Fig. 1. The greenhouse effect is important because it traps energy and keep the temperatures on our planet mild and suitable for living things. Without this, the average temperature on earth would be much lower and incapable of sustaining life. However, excessive GHGs caused by human activity may cause the earth's temperature to increase drastically and result in climate change to the detriment of the global ecosystem. Therefore, it is important to focus on the control of CO2 and promote sustainable practice in all sectors.

Sustainability is defined as a way of meeting “the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” [10]. In order to achieve sustainability, the three elements of ecology, economy, and equity must be considered [11]. The concept of sustainability relates to the maintenance and enhancement of environmental, social and economic resources in order to meet the needs of current and future generations. Therefore, renewable resource inputs must be kept within the regenerative capacities of the natural system that generates them. Additionally, the extraction of non-renewable resources should be minimized and not exceed the minimum strategic levels [12], [13].

Rapid economic growth in many countries has led to pollution and environmental deterioration, and this issue is becoming more serious worldwide. Therefore, a way needs to be found to ensure the survival of current and future generations. One of the significant problems facing the environment currently is the production of excessive GHGs and other air pollutants. Recent research has shown that fossil fuel combustion in the industrial sector accounts for around 56% of CO2 emissions [14], [15], [16]. Fig. 2 presents the correlation between CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere and the earth's surface temperature. From the figure, it can be seen that there has been a significant increase in CO2 emissions and earth's temperature since 1850. It is believed that these emissions will continue to increase in the future due to industrial development and economic growth [8].

The available research on CO2 mitigation taken from previous studies is shown in Table 1. The table contains a summary of the literature on CO2 mitigation. Our review of the available literature shows that most of the research to date has focused mainly on carbon capture and sequestration/storage (CCS), whereas only a few studies have discussed the capture, storage and utilization of carbon from flue gas emissions. Among these few studies, Luckow et al. [18] focus on capture, sequestration and utilization, although the aspect of utilization is considered only in relation to a specific sector, namely the biomass sector. Similarly, Al-Saleh et al. [19] focus on CO2 capture, storage and utilization specific to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region only.

In light of the above, this paper intends to provide an idea of the combination of CCS technology and the production of biofuel by using CO2 as a feedstock. It focused on developing the idea and stimulating research on the capture and utilization of CO2 as a means to address the storage limitations of current CCS technology and enhance sustainability for the benefit of future generations. No research paper is available to fill all the gaps, whereas, this paper has fulfilled the gap considering capture, sequestration, utilization and product.

Section snippets

Carbon dioxide capture and sequestration

Carbon capture and sequestration or storage is defined as the removal of CO2 directly from industrial or utility plants and its subsequent storage in a secure medium. It is one of the most important technologies that can be employed to reduce CO2 emissions [26]. The rationale for CCS is to enable the production of biofuels while reducing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere and thereby mitigate global climate change [15], [20], [21], [31], [38]. Therefore, when using CCS technology, the storage

Utilization of carbon dioxide (CO2) into biofuel

Due to the storage limitations of CCS technology, methods need to be found to utilize CO2 in ways that are more sustainable. The sustainable option discussed in this paper is the conversion of CO2 from a damaging GHG that causes global warming into a valuable, renewable, and unlimited carbon source [86]. Moreover, as fossil fuels are a limited resource, finding alternative fuels such as biofuels has become a high priority worldwide [87]. The utilization of CO2 for biofuel will not only help

Concluding remarks and recommendations

This paper has provided some information on pollution to solution of GHGs in the context of CO2 emission for the benefit of future generations. The justification for developing CCS technology is to enable the reuse of fossil fuels from industrial emissions while reducing atmospheric CO2 emissions and thereby mitigate global climate change. The CO2 capturing process can be performed by using post-combustion capture systems, pre-combustion capture systems or oxyfuel capture systems. To date, CCS

Acknowledgement

Without the support of Ministry of Education and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), in the form of research grant (Vote No. 15H32), this study would not have been possible. Moreover, authors also would like to thanks Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) for their support. We shall remain indebted to them for their generosity.

References (165)

  • G. Centi et al.

    Opportunities and prospects in the chemical recycling of carbon dioxide to fuels

    Catal Today

    (2009)
  • A.A. Olajire

    CO 2 capture and separation technologies for end-of-pipe applications–a review

    Energy

    (2010)
  • J. Pires et al.

    Recent developments on carbon capture and storage: an overview

    Chem Eng Res Des

    (2011)
  • C. Fu et al.

    Carbon capture and storage in the power industry: challenges and opportunities

    Energy Procedia

    (2012)
  • G.P. Hammond et al.

    The prospects for coal-fired power plants with carbon capture and storage: a UK perspective

    Energy Convers Manag

    (2014)
  • S. Ma et al.

    Path analysis on CO 2 resource utilization based on carbon capture using ammonia method in coal-fired power plants

    Renew Sustain Energy Rev

    (2014)
  • Y. Huang et al.

    Techno-economic study of CO 2 capture and storage in coal fired oxygen fed entrained flow IGCC power plants

    Fuel Process Technol

    (2008)
  • M. Wang et al.

    CO 2 capture with chemical absorption: a state-of-the-art review

    Chem Eng Res Des

    (2011)
  • K. Damen et al.

    A comparison of electricity and hydrogen production systems with CO 2 capture and storage. part A: review and selection of promising conversion and capture technologies

    Prog Energy Combust Sci

    (2006)
  • K.H. Kaggerud et al.

    Chemical and process integration: synergies in co-production of power and chemicals from natural gas with co 2 capture

    Appl Therm Eng

    (2006)
  • R. Thiruvenkatachari et al.

    Post combustion CO 2 capture by carbon fibre monolithic adsorbents

    Prog Energy Combust Sci

    (2009)
  • D.Y. Leung et al.

    An overview of current status of carbon dioxide capture and storage technologies

    Renew Sustain Energy Rev

    (2014)
  • H.W. Pennline et al.

    Progress in carbon dioxide capture and separation research for gasification-based power generation point sources

    Fuel Process Technol

    (2008)
  • R. Khalilpour et al.

    Membrane-based carbon capture from flue gas: a review

    J Clean Prod

    (2015)
  • P.H. Feron

    The potential for improvement of the energy performance of pulverized coal fired power stations with post-combustion capture of carbon dioxide

    Energy Procedia

    (2009)
  • A. Dave et al.

    Process design for CO 2 absorption from syngas using physical solvent DMEPEG

    Int J Greenh Gas Control

    (2016)
  • S. Zhao et al.

    Membrane evaporation of amine solution for energy saving in post-combustion carbon capture: wetting and condensation

    Sep Purif Technol

    (2015)
  • X. Yu et al.

    CO 2 capture using a superhydrophobic ceramic membrane contactor

    J Membr Sci

    (2015)
  • X. Li et al.

    Constructing CO 2 transport passageways in Matrimid® membranes using nanohydrogels for efficient carbon capture

    J Membr Sci

    (2015)
  • S. Wang et al.

    Enhanced CO 2 separation properties by incorporating poly (ethylene glycol)-containing polymeric submicrospheres into polyimide membrane

    J Membr Sci

    (2015)
  • M. Cersosimo et al.

    Separation of CO 2 from humidified ternary gas mixtures using thermally rearranged polymeric membranes

    J Membr Sci

    (2015)
  • A. Hansson et al.

    Expert opinions on carbon dioxide capture and storage—a framing of uncertainties and possibilities

    Energy Policy

    (2009)
  • C. Gough

    State of the art in carbon dioxide capture and storage in the UK: an experts' review

    Int J Greenh Gas Control

    (2008)
  • S.T. McCoy et al.

    An engineering-economic model of pipeline transport of CO 2 with application to carbon capture and storage

    Int J Greenh Gas Control

    (2008)
  • W. Cai et al.

    Pricing Contracts Under Uncertainty in a Carbon Capture and storage framework

    Energy Econ

    (2014)
  • J. Smith et al.

    Carbon dioxide storage risk assessment: analysis of caprock fracture network connectivity

    Int J Greenh Gas Control

    (2011)
  • J. Bradshaw et al.

    CO 2 storage capacity estimation: issues and development of standards

    Int J Greenh Gas Control

    (2007)
  • S. Shackley et al.

    CO 2 reduction in India through use of CO 2 capture and storage (CCS): prospects and challenges

    Energy Policy

    (2008)
  • M. Karl et al.

    Worst case scenario study to assess the environmental impact of amine emissions from a CO2 capture plant

    Int J Greenh Gas Control

    (2011)
  • A. Demirbas

    Political, economic and environmental impacts of biofuels: a review

    Appl Energy

    (2009)
  • A. Singh et al.

    Key issues in life cycle assessment of ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass: challenges and perspectives

    Bioresour Technol

    (2010)
  • L. Reijnders

    Conditions for the sustainability of biomass based fuel use

    Energy Policy

    (2006)
  • T. Nasterlack et al.

    Are biofuel concerns globally relevant? Prospects for a proposed pioneer bioethanol project in South Africa

    Energy Sustain Dev

    (2014)
  • M. Ewing et al.

    Biofuels production in developing countries: assessing tradeoffs in welfare and food security

    Environ Sci Policy

    (2009)
  • Le Treut H, Somerville R, Cubasch U, Ding Y, Mauritzen C, Mokssit A, Peterson T, Prather M. Historical overview of...
  • Arocho I, Rasdorf W, Hummer J. Methodology to forecast the emissions from construction equipment for a transportation...
  • C2ES. Global Anthropogenic Ghg Emissions by Gas. . Available from:...
  • A. Arneth et al.

    Terrestrial biogeochemical feedbacks in the climate system

    Nat Geosci

    (2010)
  • T. Moore et al.

    Uncertainty in predicting the effect of climatic change on the carbon cycling of Canadian peatlands

    Clim Change

    (1998)
  • G.P. Peters et al.

    Rapid growth in CO2 emissions after the 2008–2009 global financial crisis

    Nat Clim Change

    (2012)
  • Cited by (470)

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text