Global opportunities and challenges on net-zero CO2 emissions towards a sustainable future

Abstract

In recent years, global warming has been showing its deadliest impact on civilization through natural calamities. Given this situation, sustainable and economically viable CO₂ capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) techniques are the need of the hour more than ever before. Herein, cutting-edge technologies and materials for CO₂ capture, conversion, and utilization are briefly discussed. The advances of various carbon capture technologies such as absorption, adsorption, membrane, and biochemical are investigated. Furthermore, the conversion of CO₂ into value-added products with the help of single-atom catalysts, plasma technology, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) is discussed in detail. MOFs and COFs have been receiving a great deal of attention as they offer material design flexibility to enhance the CO₂ conversion efficiency. Among the existing methods, plasma technology has received the least attention; however, it has the potential to enhance the conversion rate, as demonstrated. On CO₂ utilization, two significant energy-intensive technologies, refrigeration and air-conditioning and the organic Rankine cycle, that have the potential to utilize either pure or blended CO₂ as their working fluid, are discussed. Specifically, the blending of CO₂ with hydrocarbons has grabbed attention as a potential alternative natural working fluid with minimal environmental impact. The utilization of CO₂ in commercial technologies primarily relies on the balance between performance enhancement and environmental benefits. Pilot-scale research projects and opportunities on CCUS technologies have also been discussed.