Carbon Dioxide Conversion: Pathway to Defossilize Carbon-Based Materials and Durably Store Carbon

Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) conversion is a suite of chemical and biological processes that transform the carbon in CO₂ into other forms, such as mineral carbonates, alcohols, hydrocarbons, polymers, or elemental carbon materials. Such processes allow CO₂ to replace fossil fuels to enable sustainable production of chemicals and materials, and support durable storage of CO₂ in long-lived products, two underexamined aspects of addressing CO₂ accumulation in the atmosphere. CO₂ can, in principle, serve as a feedstock for any carbon-based product, and is better suited to forming carbonates, other oxygenated products, or single-carbon products that share similar properties to CO₂. CO₂ conversion requires new infrastructure for CO₂ capture, clean energy, and product distribution, and may need CO₂ transportation, clean hydrogen, and water resources. Infrastructure buildouts could benefit from clustered siting, integration of utilization infrastructure with other carbon management infrastructure, improved public engagement, and improved research on pipeline modeling and testing for safety from propagating brittle fractures. CO₂ utilization is enabled by economic and noneconomic policies that develop the sector's value for sustainable product formation and long-term carbon storage. Though CO₂ conversion technologies are operating today in select markets at pilot, demonstration, and commercial scales, most areas of the product and process landscape require investment in research, development, and demonstration. The first¹ and final² reports of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Committee on Carbon Utilization Infrastructure, Markets, Research, and Development offer comprehensive assessments of the infrastructure, market, policy, and research needs to enable CO₂ conversion to serve the needs of circular carbon economies and durable carbon storage.