As we cannot use efficiently fossil-C, biomass alone cannot satisfy our needs,
and liquid fuels are the most concentrated forms of energy, our strategy is to
substitute fossil-C with renewable carbon, which means with a form of carbon that
can enter into a man-made cycle, supplementing the “natural cycle.”
And CO 2 “is” renewable carbon: Nature shows that it is!
12.2 The Carbon Dioxide Revolution
Therefore, the solution is in the “Carbon Dioxide Revolution”: turn around the
concept about it; from origin of problems to solution of problems. CO 2 is not a
waste: we are supporting this concept since the 1980s [6]. CO 2 is a resource! We
have anticipated too much the times! But we are there! People now believe in this
paradigm, even industries.
In 1989, we anticipated the use we have to do of CO 2 (Fig. 12.3); after separation, CO 2 can be converted into useful products with the use of solar light and the
concourse of catalysis, photochemistry, photoelectrochemistry, and biotechnology;
we are there, exactly there, thirty years after. But in the 1980s, there were not yet
the conditions for using CO 2 on a large scale.
It is now clear that Carbon Dioxide Utilization (CDU) is a step toward a Cyclic
Carbon Economy, with different options spanned on a diverse time-scale. CDU
represents the revolution in the Society.
Fig. 12.3 Separation and use of CO 2 [18]
222
12 The CO 2 Revolution
and liquid fuels are the most concentrated forms of energy, our strategy is to
substitute fossil-C with renewable carbon, which means with a form of carbon that
can enter into a man-made cycle, supplementing the “natural cycle.”
And CO 2 “is” renewable carbon: Nature shows that it is!
12.2 The Carbon Dioxide Revolution
Therefore, the solution is in the “Carbon Dioxide Revolution”: turn around the
concept about it; from origin of problems to solution of problems. CO 2 is not a
waste: we are supporting this concept since the 1980s [6]. CO 2 is a resource! We
have anticipated too much the times! But we are there! People now believe in this
paradigm, even industries.
In 1989, we anticipated the use we have to do of CO 2 (Fig. 12.3); after separation, CO 2 can be converted into useful products with the use of solar light and the
concourse of catalysis, photochemistry, photoelectrochemistry, and biotechnology;
we are there, exactly there, thirty years after. But in the 1980s, there were not yet
the conditions for using CO 2 on a large scale.
It is now clear that Carbon Dioxide Utilization (CDU) is a step toward a Cyclic
Carbon Economy, with different options spanned on a diverse time-scale. CDU
represents the revolution in the Society.
Fig. 12.3 Separation and use of CO 2 [18]
222
12 The CO 2 Revolution