Perspectives of CO2 utilization as a negative emission technology

In the race to net zero, attention is turning to solutions that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Among them, technologies for the capture and geological storage of atmospheric CO2 are promising, while the capture and utilization of CO2 is a more uncertain way to significantly mitigate climate change. In this review, we aim at examining solutions to utilize and store CO2 in products in order to identify those eligible for negative emissions and quantify their potentials. First, we review the scientific literature and point out that CO2 utilization could both enable the production of goods and suck CO2 out of the atmosphere if employed for solvents, refrigerants or working fluids, or converted into carbonates and plastics. Then, we review energy models that explore the future potential of CO2 utilization to understand whether negative emissions are envisioned through CO2 utilization routes. We note that only a few models represent the negative emissions value chains through CO2 utilization, and even fewer report them in the results of their exercise. Finally, we discuss the feasibility and impacts of CO2 utilization deployment as well as its representation in energy models, considering the complexity of this value chain.