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