Addressing the CO2 dilemma

Perspectives are offered for reducing the impact of huge amounts of CO2 produced today from power generation and transportation vehicles. The origins of the dilemma between the world’s increasing use of hydrocarbons as an energy source and the cogeneration of CO2 which results as a co-product are discussed. Hydrocarbons will provide much of the fuel needs for these major, global industries for the next 20 years and meet 60% of the world’s energy demand. With the growth of both power generation and transportation vehicles around the world, CO2 levels will continue to increase in the atmosphere. Renewables such as wind, dams, and biomass will not be able to handle all the energy demand. Technology breakthroughs are needed to reduce the world’s dependence on fossil fuels, which will be aggravated by the drive to use more coal. Current approaches for removing CO2 are discussed as well as near term and future options with particular focus on how catalysis can offer some solutions. In particular, solar photocatalysis based approaches offer a potentially viable energy solution.