{"id":652520,"date":"2025-02-07T00:01:04","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T21:01:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/harnessing-co%e2%82%82-for-consumer-goods-and-industrial-materials\/"},"modified":"2025-02-07T00:01:04","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T21:01:04","slug":"harnessing-co%e2%82%82-for-consumer-goods-and-industrial-materials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/harnessing-co%e2%82%82-for-consumer-goods-and-industrial-materials\/","title":{"rendered":"#Harnessing CO\u2082 for consumer goods and industrial materials"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3dd2e562221\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3dd2e562221\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/harnessing-co%e2%82%82-for-consumer-goods-and-industrial-materials\/#How_does_chemically_converting_CO%E2%82%82_into_products_work\" >How does chemically converting CO\u2082 into products work?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/harnessing-co%e2%82%82-for-consumer-goods-and-industrial-materials\/#Can_converting_CO%E2%82%82_into_products_help_us_meet_our_climate_goals\" >Can converting CO\u2082 into products help us meet our climate goals?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/harnessing-co%e2%82%82-for-consumer-goods-and-industrial-materials\/#Is_there_a_concern_that_people_will_see_these_and_think_we_dont_need_to_reduce_CO%E2%82%82_emissions_because_we_can_make_products_from_it\" >Is there a concern that people will see these and think we don&#8217;t need to reduce CO\u2082 emissions because we can make products from it?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/harnessing-co%e2%82%82-for-consumer-goods-and-industrial-materials\/#What_do_you_hope_will_be_the_biggest_takeaway_from_the_study\" >What do you hope will be the biggest takeaway from the study?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2025\/can-we-make-useful-pro-1.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/2025\/can-we-make-useful-pro-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"The CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;\/sub&gt; Tree highlighting the classes (branches) of compounds (fruits) that have been made from carbon dioxide from lab scale to commercial scale. Credit: &lt;i&gt;ACS Sustainable Chemistry &amp; Engineering&lt;\/i&gt; (2024). DOI: 10.1021\/acssuschemeng.4c07582\">\n<figure class=\"article-img\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2025\/can-we-make-useful-pro-1.jpg\" alt=\"Can we make useful products from carbon dioxide?\" title=\"The CO2 Tree highlighting the classes (branches) of compounds (fruits) that have been made from carbon dioxide from lab scale to commercial scale. Credit: ACS Sustainable Chemistry &amp; Engineering (2024). DOI: 10.1021\/acssuschemeng.4c07582\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\"\/><figcaption class=\"text-darken text-low-up text-truncate-js text-truncate mt-3\">\n                The CO<sub>2<\/sub> Tree highlighting the classes (branches) of compounds (fruits) that have been made from carbon dioxide from lab scale to commercial scale. Credit: <i>ACS Sustainable Chemistry &amp; Engineering<\/i> (2024). DOI: 10.1021\/acssuschemeng.4c07582<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Carbon dioxide (CO\u2082) emissions are a major contributor to the climate crisis, and while the world works to reduce emissions, chemists and engineers are also working on how to capture and utilize the carbon dioxide already being emitted.<\/p>\n<p>Once dismissed as impractical, researchers are developing methods to convert CO\u2082 into a wide range of valuable products, such as consumer goods, industrial materials or chemicals. This progress is exemplified by &#8220;The CO\u2082 Tree,&#8221; which showcases the wide array of products achievable through CO\u2082 utilization using a tree metaphor.<\/p>\n<p>Hanno Erythropel, a research scientist at the Yale Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering at the Yale School of the Environment, is part of an international team that <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/doi\/10.1021\/acssuschemeng.4c07582\" target=\"_blank\">published<\/a> the article &#8220;The CO\u2082 Tree: The Potential for Carbon Dioxide Utilization Pathways&#8221; in <i>ACS Sustainable Chemistry &amp; Engineering<\/i>. He recently spoke with YSE <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> about how chemical CO\u2082 conversion can help mitigate the climate crisis and also why it is not a silver bullet.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2025\/can-we-make-useful-pro.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/2025\/can-we-make-useful-pro.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Hanno Erythropel in the lab. Credit: Mara Lavitt\">\n<figure class=\"article-img text-center\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2025\/can-we-make-useful-pro.jpg\" alt=\"Can we make useful products from carbon dioxide?\" title=\"Hanno Erythropel in the lab. Credit: Mara Lavitt\"\/><figcaption class=\"text-left text-darken text-truncate text-low-up mt-3\">\n                Hanno Erythropel in the lab. Credit: Mara Lavitt<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_does_chemically_converting_CO%E2%82%82_into_products_work\"><\/span>How does chemically converting CO\u2082 into products work?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Chemically speaking, CO\u2082 is a molecule like any other, and chemists convert molecules to create the materials needed for our modern society. What makes CO\u2082 special is that it is usually the end-product of combustion and related processes, and it is considered &#8220;low energy&#8221; because to convert it back into useful materials, one needs energy and usually hydrogen to remove oxygen atoms from it.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, that is exactly what chemists strive for: We try to design effective ways to convert one molecule into another. When looking at the CO\u2082 Tree we created for the manu<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">script<\/a>, we organized the fruits\u2014the materials already obtainable from CO\u2082 today\u2014from most reduced (all oxygen removed) such as in fuels or graphite on the left, to the most oxidized (least oxygen removed) such as in baking powder, sodium bicarbonate, on the right.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Can_converting_CO%E2%82%82_into_products_help_us_meet_our_climate_goals\"><\/span>Can converting CO\u2082 into products help us meet our climate goals?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We know that we need to reduce our CO\u2082 output stemming from fossil resources, but the CO\u2082 in the atmosphere can also serve as a resource, especially because we need to find and use alternative carbon sources to the currently used fossil ones. If chemists want to do their part in addressing climate change, this is a good way to say, &#8220;well, how can we convert CO\u2082 to something useful?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Making the materials and chemicals for our society out of CO\u2082, rather than fossil resources, is an inherently circular approach: Chemicals and materials will eventually become CO\u2082 again, which is then again a resource. Doing so, using renewable energy, as we point out in the manuscript, essentially harvests such renewable energy into the material world.<\/p>\n<p>We sincerely hope that the presented list of available compounds is soon obsolete, as research and development in the area led by teams of creative chemists and engineers will have made many more chemicals and materials from CO\u2082 accessible.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_there_a_concern_that_people_will_see_these_and_think_we_dont_need_to_reduce_CO%E2%82%82_emissions_because_we_can_make_products_from_it\"><\/span>Is there a concern that people will see these and think we don&#8217;t need to reduce CO\u2082 emissions because we can make products from it?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>This is a very valid point, one which was also raised during the review process. Let&#8217;s be clear: CO\u2082 utilization will only be one factor, besides reducing fossil emissions and carbon capture, to address the climate crisis.<\/p>\n<p>We want to be really clear that what we have outlined here are the many transformations of CO\u2082 that are currently possible, but that the decisions about what should be done must address more complex criteria, such as the source of CO\u2082, the type of catalyst used, the energy balance, and other life cycle factors. Ignoring these important factors can result in doing the right things the wrong way; in other words, converting waste CO\u2082 into valuable products but simultaneously creating unintended consequences.<\/p>\n<p>So, the goal of this manuscript is not to judge what should or should not be done but rather to raise awareness of all the fantastic work on converting CO\u2082 into something useful that already exists. Then, when implementing such reactions, we do have to make sure we do the right things right. For example, if more CO\u2082 is generated and released than is incorporated during the process, or a toxic catalyst was used to do so, then the problem might have been made worse. So, there is a need to be thoughtful.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_do_you_hope_will_be_the_biggest_takeaway_from_the_study\"><\/span>What do you hope will be the biggest takeaway from the study?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The big hope is that chemists, scientists, regulators, and anyone interested will look at this and say, &#8220;Oh, wait a minute. It is possible to convert CO\u2082 into useful materials!&#8221; In the manuscript, we have cited examples of reactions for various materials and provided resources for those interested in looking into this in greater detail.<\/p>\n<p>As we outline in the manuscript and our very own Professor Paul Anastas has said, &#8220;We can only hope that in a few years&#8217; time, this list of possible products we provided is very much outdated, and that one would have to create a whole new tree image to capture the progress in the field.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-main__more p-4\">\n<p><strong>More information:<\/strong><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHeather O. LeClerc et al, The CO<sub>2<\/sub> Tree: The Potential for Carbon Dioxide Utilization Pathways, <i>ACS Sustainable Chemistry &amp; Engineering<\/i> (2024). <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-doi=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1021\/acssuschemeng.4c07582\" target=\"_blank\">DOI: 10.1021\/acssuschemeng.4c07582<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"d-inline-block text-medium mt-4\">\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProvided by<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tYale University<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"icon_open\" href=\"http:\/\/www.yale.edu\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<use href=\"https:\/\/phys.b-cdn.net\/tmpl\/v6\/img\/svg\/sprite.svg#icon_open\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- print only --><\/p>\n<div class=\"d-none d-print-block\">\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<strong>Citation<\/strong>:<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tQ&amp;A: Harnessing CO\u2082 for consumer goods and industrial materials (2025, February 6)<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tretrieved 6 February 2025<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfrom https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-02-qa-harnessing-consumer-goods-industrial.html\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script id=\"facebook-jssdk\" async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/category\/sciencee\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Science category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-02-qa-harnessing-consumer-goods-industrial.html\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The CO2 Tree highlighting the classes (branches) of compounds (fruits) that have been made from carbon dioxide from lab scale to commercial scale. Credit: ACS Sustainable Chemistry &amp; Engineering (2024). DOI: 10.1021\/acssuschemeng.4c07582 Carbon dioxide (CO\u2082) emissions are a major contributor to the climate crisis, and while the world works to reduce emissions, chemists and engineers&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":652521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/2025\/can-we-make-useful-pro-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-652520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sciencee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/652521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}