Expert suggests conversion of carbon dioxide into chemicals

Converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into industrially relevant chemicals and fuels can be one approach to address mitigation, an expert from Qatar University (QU) has said.
Prof Syed Javaid Zaidi, chair professor and Qafac chair at QU’s Centre for Advanced Materials (CAM), said this approach would reduce the carbon footprint associated with the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal and will also provide new feed stocks for petrochemical production, and generate revenue to contribute to the economic growth.
 He was delivering a keynote address at the sixth Waste Management and Recycling Summit last week.
It is estimated that CO2 contributes more than 70% of the total global warming caused by all greenhouse gases.
According to a research study, carbon emissions in the Middle East and North Africa have doubled in the last 30 years with oil-rich countries taking the lead.
“Qatar is endeavouring to address its current and future emissions, and will need to embark on different programmes that reduce emissions to appropriate levels for the whole country and develop solutions for the reduction and utilisation of waste CO2,” said
Prof Zaidi.
Utilisation and conversion of CO2 into value-added chemicals and fuels will help in decreasing CO2 footprint, which will help in controlling the worsening global warming problem. Moreover, CO2 has been seen as a plentiful feedstock for the manufacture of many chemicals and transportation fuels such as methanol, dimethyl ether and their useful derivatives.
Prof Zaidi noted that the reduction of CO2 to useful petrochemical feed stocks and fuels would provide a sustainable solution to the growing emissions problems. In this context, CO2 can be conveniently captured at point sources such as power plants, aluminum plants, fermentation units, chemical plants and cement plants, and converted into value-added products.
Methanol can be produced from CO2 hydrogenation, and is one of the most widely suggested alternatives for chemical energy carrier.