Analytical Review of Life‐Cycle Environmental Impacts of Carbon Capture and Utilization Technologies

Abstract

Carbon capture and utilization (CCU) has been proposed as a sustainable alternative to produce valuable chemicals by reducing the global warming impact and depletion of fossil resources. To guarantee that CCU processes have environmental advantages over conventional production processes, thorough and systematic environmental impact analyses must be performed. Life‐Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a robust methodology that can be used to fulfil this aim. In this context, this article aims to review the life‐cycle environmental impacts of several CCU processes, focusing on the production of methanol, methane, dimethyl ether, dimethyl carbonate, propane and propene. A systematic literature review is used to collect relevant published evidence of the environmental impacts and potential benefits. An analysis of such information shows that CCU generally provides a reduction of environmental impacts, notably global warming/climate change, compared to conventional manufacturing processes of the same product. To achieve such environmental improvements, renewable energy must be used, particularly to produce hydrogen from water electrolysis. Importantly, different methodological choices are identified that are being used in the LCA studies, making results not comparable. There is a clear need to harmonize LCA methods for the analyses of CCU systems, and more importantly, to document and justify such methodological choices in the LCA report.

Semi-Crystalline Polyoxymethylene-co-Polyoxyalkylene Multi-Block Telechels as Building Blocks for Polyurethane Applications

“…The sustainability of polyurethane (PU) materials that are produced mostly by reacting polyols with polyisocyanates [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ] benefits from incorporating carbon dioxide as a co-monomer into the polyol [ 17 , 18 , 19 ]. As a chemical building block, carbon dioxide has a comparatively low but not zero global warming impact (GWI) [ 20 ]. By copolymerizing carbon dioxide with epoxides, such as propylene oxide and/or ethylene oxide, polyols ranging from polyethercarbonate polyols (–[(CH 2 CHRO) m –C(O)–O] n –; R = Me, H; m > 1) [ 21 , 22 ] to alternating polycarbonate polyols (–[CH 2 CHRO–C(O)–O] n –) [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ] are readily obtained [ 13 , 30 ].…”

Modeling of Pretreatment and Combined Alkaline and Enzymatic Hydrolyses of Blue Agave Bagasse in Corotating Twin‐Screw Extruders

“…[ 1–5 ] Most of these complications are attributed to the utilization of fossil resources. [ 6–8 ] Biomasses have become effective alternative raw materials in the production of added‐value materials and biofuels, especially bioethanol. [ 9–14 ]…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5] Most of these complications are attributed to the utilization of fossil resources. [6][7][8] Biomasses DOI: 10.1002/mren.202100059 have become effective alternative raw materials in the production of addedvalue materials and biofuels, especially bioethanol. [9][10][11][12][13][14] Biomasses are mainly composed of cellulose (C), hemicellulose (H), and lignin (L).…”

Membrane-Assisted Methanol Synthesis Processes and the Required Permselectivity

“…However, the CCU cycle cannot be fully composed, unless the captured CO 2 consolidates itself as major building blocks for the production of diverse high-demand CO 2 -based fuels, such as methane, methanol, and liquid hydrocarbon transportation fuels (LHTF), as well as chemicals. With almost 99 Mt global demand in 2020, methanol is identified as a pivotal intermediate for production of manifold chemicals (dimethyl ether, formaldehyde, formic acid, lower olefins, acetic acid, and higher alcohols), and LHTFs via the so-called methanol-to-gasoline (MTG) and Mobil olefins-to-gasoline-and-distillate (MOGD) technologies, instead of the traditional Fischer–Tropsch (FT) synthesis approach, as shown in Figure 1 [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Based on the premises, green methanol has substantial potential to shortly emerge as one of the key pieces of the carbon cycle puzzle; however, its production via CO 2 hydrogenation is limited by equilibrium conversion under relevant process conditions and suffers from a high amount of water produced, which causes catalyst thermal deactivation.…”