Energy and Electricity - Introduction to Carbon Capture and Sequestration - page 21

Gaseous consumption Liquid/ Solid consumption

NaCO 3
Urea
CaCO 3
Oil and gas

Other
Oil and gas
Beverage
Food

4%

18%
1%

25%

5%
15%

77%

55%

Figure 1.3.2 Annual consumption of CO 2 in the USA
The annual use of CO 2 is 100 Mt, which can be supplied by 3-4 coal-fired power plants.
Figure based on data from SRI Consulting, MIT, UT Austin.

surface. The total yearly use of CO 2 for this purpose is about 100 Mt. This
number is equivalent to the emission from four large power plants. Of
course, it would be beneficial to use CO 2 from flue gasses instead of natural
reservoirs for enhanced oil recovery, but it is clear that our power plants
jointly produce much, much more CO 2 than we can use for oil recovery.
Let us assume as an alternative that we have some magic chemistry
to take a molecule ZZ and connect it to a CO 2 molecule. We call our prod-
uct, ZZCO 2 , “ dreamium ” in anticipation of the many beautiful properties
our new material will have. At present we have to trust that we will dis-
cover the chemistry to make dreamium. But let us assume that this chem-
istry exists and that this chemistry is surprisingly simple; we can use any
method for the production of ZZ, and dreamium will follow. Suppose fur-
thermore that we can make ZZ from any commodity chemical that is
produced in the world. Bhown and Freeman looked at the consequences
[1.12]. In Table 1.3.1 we list the top 50 chemicals produced in the world
in 2009. As the chemistry of making dreamium is so simple, we can use
all of them. The interesting observation is that by using all of the top 50
chemicals being produced in the world, we cannot even capture 10%
of the global CO 2 emissions . Let us think about these numbers. Our
production of dreamium TM barely makes a dent in our CO 2 emissions, yet
we now have a product, dreamium, that we need to market on a scale that
is larger than the top 50 chemicals combined! In addition, by making
dreamium we have depleted all supplies of other chemicals in the world.
This example illustrates the sheer size of CO 2 emissions. Converting
CO 2 into something useful on a scale that is relevant to climate change