Transition of chemical production pattern motivated by CO2 utilization: Multi-dimensional evaluation and future projections

[Display omitted] •Traditional and CDU pathways were evaluated multi-dimensionally.•The MFA-LCA-TEA coupled model was conducted with industrial data in China.•23 pathways and 7 chemicals were covered for systematic analysis.•Low-carbon strategies increase the comprehensive competitiveness of CDU pathways.•CO2 emissions and economic growth can be decoupled for sustainable chemical production. Carbon dioxide utilization (CDU) for chemical production is beneficial for achieving carbon neutrality and constructing an artificial carbon cycle. However, the industrialization of CDU technology is facing the concerns about environmental impacts, energy consumption and economic effects. To better illustrate the comprehensive performances of CDU technology and optimize chemical production, this study conducts a multi-dimensional evaluation on CDU and traditional pathways following a scenario-based optimization, which covers 23 pathways for 7 identified bulk chemicals. The results reveal that ethanol is the most suitable chemical to be transitioned preferentially and produced with CDU technology based on China’s current technology level. The development of electro-catalytic conversion may benefit CDU pathways especially for oxirane. The results of scenario analysis reveal that the competitivity and priority of various pathways may change significantly with the deployment of low-carbon strategies. Then the results of conditional optimization reveal that the transition of chemical production pattern motivated by CDU may significantly impact on resource consumption and technology proportion, which brings about an increase of 680 % in H2 consumption. The transition may also decouple the relationship between carbon emissions and economic growth, which drives the production emissions to drop from 193 Mt/year to −27 Mt/year and carbon intensity to drop from 80 t/104 USD to −8 t/104 USD.