A chemical perspective on the utilization of CO2

Complete text of publication follows: The anthropogenic emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) is a major concern of global importance. However, carbon dioxide is not only a problematic waste material, it can on the other hand also find use in chemical processes. Given the difference in scale of the energetic and chemical use of our carbon resources (based on crude oil, it is approximately 95:5), the question arises whether chemical utilization of CO2 is of any relevance for the global carbon balance. This presentation highlights the opportunities and challenges associated with the use of CO2 as building block for chemical synthesis and as solvent in its supercritical state. As outlined above, such applications can form a welcome, but only limited contribution to the direct reduction of the CO2 emission. It will be shown, however, that they have an attractive potential to impact on the evaluation of CO2 mitigation strategies and open the way to new, more sustainable chemical processes. Thus, the question to be asked in this context is not 'How much can we reduce the CO2 emission?', but 'What can we do with CO2'?