PEM CO2 electrolyzers from an industrial perspective

In order to achieve international goals set forth for the reduc-tion of atmospheric CO2 levels, there is significant research and policy interest in developing technologies that utilize the CO2 emitted from on-going industrial processes. Many pro-cesses within the manufacturing and transportation sectors (e.g., cement manufacturing, plastics production, and long-haul transportation) will rely on carbon-based liquid fuels and chemical precursors for the indeterminate future. CO2 elec-trolysis has the ability to recycle captured emissions from those industries and use them to make some of the same products (e.g., carbon monoxide, formate, and jet fuel). This is a critical pathway to decarbonizing otherwise hard-to-abate sectors. The use of PEM CO2 ;electrolysis is an attractive way to transform waste CO2 from industrial emissions into high-value products. Within this article is a discussion of the ad-vantages and challenges of PEM CO2 electolyzers.