Carbon Utilization
Source: © Iago Corazza, Courtesy of Mario Cucinella Architects

7Carbon Utilization

Carbon Utilization describes the process of capturing CO2 from industrial or atmospheric sources and converting it into a wide array of value-added products.

Also referred to as carbontech, this rapidly growing field produces a diverse and expanding set of goods and services, including global commodities like fuel, plastics, and building materials as well as valuable niche applications like cosmetics, food, beverages, and emerging technologies like carbon nanotubes.

Carbon180Source: Carbon180

Most approaches to convert CO2 draw on principles from chemistry. Others use biology and new approaches are being invented and tested every year to create climate-beneficial materials that perform as well as or better than their incumbents.

Carbon utilization can contribute to both climate restoration (carbon removal) and mitigation (carbon reduction). Certain everyday products, like carbonated beverages, soaps, and perfumes, can be made from CO2 waste. While these products may have short lifespans if the CO2 is re-released quickly, they are still valuable because they help reduce the world’s dependence on fossil fuels. By using CO2 waste instead of petrochemicals, we can shift the production of key items away from fossil fuels. This transition is now internationally recognized as necessary for the future.

Other carbontech products are longer lasting, allowing the CO2 to stay locked away for at least 100 years. These products (e.g., concrete, bricks, carbon nanotubes, diamonds, contribute to climate restoration in addition to mitigation by using CO2 waste as a valuable source material and keeping that CO2 locked away long term.

Given the wide range of carbon utilization applications, we consider how they can contribute to restoring our climate to pre-industrial conditions by applying these guiding principles: durability, financeability, scalability, and equity.

Durability

Unlike most carbon dioxide removal (CDR) approaches, carbon utilization’s durability is mostly dependent on the product in which the CO2 is stored. There is a vast range of lifespans of carbon in various products. While CO2 is re-released rapidly from short-lived goods like soaps, beverages, and foods, it is stored nearly indefinitely in long-lived products like concrete and diamonds. To maximize the amount of CO2 stored permanently through carbontech products, we must consider the durability of the products being made from captured CO2.

Financeability

Like durability, the ability to finance carbontech products depends largely on the specific products being made and the methods used to create them. While certain products that utilize captured CO2, e.g., concrete, can be made inexpensively, others, such as synthetic aviation fuels, involve more costly and complex processes. As a result, carbon utilization costs can range widely from approximately $44 to $660 per metric tonne.

Government subsidies and tax credits can help offset these costs as the carbontech industry grows and these manufacturing processes move down the cost curve. Ultimately, these new carbontech products must be cost-competitive with their incumbents to gain scale.

Scalability

The total addressable market (TAM) for carbon utilization highlights scalable growth opportunities. Commercial products, like aggregates and concrete, have existing markets of billions of tons per year. Replacing these traditional products with carbontech alternatives could then store away multiple gigatons of CO2 each year. Consumer products, such as diamonds, are expensive to create and have less market potential. Yet such novel products along with everyday products like carbonated beverages and soap, can help transition consumer mindsets and markets toward a more circular economy by utilizing carbon waste.

Equity

Carbon utilization can be implemented equitably, particularly when producers involve the most affected local communities and stakeholders. As the global markets gradually shift towards renewable and regenerative resources, it is crucial to ensure that this transition is fair and just. It will be important to provide workers whose jobs could be at risk with adequate work protections and opportunities to participate in and benefit from the growing carbontech industry. This can be done through retraining and creating new job opportunities for workers, both key to sustainable economic and community development.

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