Conceptual study of distributed CO2 capture and the sustainable carbon economy

Capture of carbon dioxide from distributed sources is often neglected as a viable solution to the global problem of CO2 emissions management. Small scale power plants, including those applicable to the transportation sector, can be designed to capture their CO2 exhaust stream, provided it is not heavily diluted with air. Liquefaction of carbon dioxide allows the captured CO2 to be stored densely, with a minimal energetic penalty and space requirement, until it can be permanently sequestered. In this short-term solution, the energetic penalty for CO2 capture can be further offset by exploiting novel energy conversion processes involving regeneration of the reaction product stream – a simple strategy that is not exploited in conventional systems. More importantly, in the long-term, as the renewable energy infrastructure is built up, the collected CO2 can be recycled into synthetic carbon-based liquid fuels which act as energy carriers in the sustainable carbon economy.