Gaseous Carbon Waste Streams Utilization : Status and Research Needs

In the quest to mitigate the buildup of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere, researchers and policymakers have increasingly turned their attention to techniques for capturing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, either from the locations where they are emitted or directly from the atmosphere. Once captured, these gases can be stored or put to use. While both carbon storage and carbon utilization have costs, utilization offers the opportunity to recover some of the cost and even generate economic value. While current carbon utilization projects operate at a relatively small scale, some estimates suggest the market for waste carbon-derived products could grow to hundreds of billions of dollars within a few decades, utilizing several thousand teragrams of waste carbon gases per year. Gaseous Carbon Waste Streams Utilization: Status and Research Needs assesses research and development needs relevant to understanding and improving the commercial viability of waste carbon utilization technologies and defines a research agenda to address key challenges. The report is intended to help inform decision making surrounding the development and deployment of waste carbon utilization technologies under a variety of circumstances, whether motivated by a goal to improve processes for making carbon-based products, to generate revenue, or to achieve environmental goals. Table of ContentsFront MatterSummary1 Introduction2 Gaseous Carbon Waste Resources3 Mineral Carbonation to Produce Construction Materials4 Chemical Utilization of CO2 into Chemicals and Fuels5 Biological Utilization of CO2 into Chemicals and Fuels6 Methane and Biogas Waste Utilization7 Enabling Technologies and Resources8 Life-Cycle Assessment of Carbon Utilization9 Assessing Commercial Viability of Carbon Utilization Technologies10 Criteria for Evaluating Carbon Utilization Technologies11 Research AgendaAppendix A: GlossaryAppendix B: Committee and Staff Biosketches