Reactive CO2 capture: A path forward for process integration in carbon management

The integration of carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and conversion processes presents an opportunity to reduce energy and capital costs required to create useful products from dilute CO2 streams, such as air or flue gas. In an integrated system, regeneration of the CO2 capture media is achieved directly through the conversion of CO2 to value-added products, eliminating dedicated CO2 desorption and compression steps. We define processes that integrate CO2 capture and CO2 conversion without going through a purified CO2 intermediate stream as “reactive capture.” In this perspective, we propose that the value proposition for reactive capture is the reduction of energy intensity and capital expense in the production of CO2-derived chemicals and materials. We describe the current strategies and the state of technology for reactive capture and provide a roadmap to guide research toward realizing these potential benefits.