Definition
Carbon dioxide, represented by the chemical formula CO2, is a key chemical compound of the carbon cycle. Made of one carbon atom (C) and two oxygen atoms (O2), it is at the source of life on Earth.
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At ambient temperature, CO2 stands at gaseous state. It weighs 53% more than dry air. As inert gas, it benefits from quantities of applications in our daily life, from the food and beverage industry to fire extinction. Invisible by human eyes, it absorbs infrared rays with the consequence to act as greenhouse gas on Earth.
CO2 dissolves easily in water (H2O) where it partly stays as CO2 and partly combines to form carbohydrates such as bicarbonate (HCO3) or carbonic acid (H2CO3). Therefore, the increase of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere contributes to the ocean acidification. About 50% of the CO2 excess in the atmosphere is absorbed by land and ocean. Anyway, algae, plants and multiple bacteria need CO2 for their development. Using sunlight energy, vegetal organisms convert by photosynthesis the carbohydrates into oxygen (O2), released in the atmosphere, and CO2, standing in the organisms in a first step. Then, these organic substances release the CO2 they have accumulated during their development when they decay or burn. That is the reason why unmaintained forests may turn net emitter of CO2 while they should stand net producer of O2.
Since vegetal organisms need CO2 for their development and living beings rely on plants for food, this gas is a cornerstone of the life cycle.
Climat Change
Carbon dioxide is a key chemical compound of the carbon cycle. Therefore, it has a major impact on the climate. Since the early 21st century, humanity started to realize it in its daily life with the acceleration of the climate change. The industrial era during the last two previous centuries modified drastically the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. Thus, it affected severely the fragile life cycle balance.
At least, the violence of the climate change in everyone daily life helps to better understand the mechanisms of the carbon cycle. After the diagnostic, it contributes to mobilize all the stakeholders (citizens, authorities, companies, NGOs, …) to work on the corresponding solutions. That begins with reducing the sources of CO2 emissions then, preventing CO2 emissions, when they occur, to be released in the atmosphere.
Reducing CO2 emissions at the sources relies on the three pillars of the Energy Transition (Renewables, Decarbonation, Recycling).
– Renewables refer mainly to solar, wind and nuclear energies.
– Decarbonation covers a large scope of technologies (electrification, carbon capture usage and sequestration (CCUS))
– Recycling appeared more recently to create value out of wastes, including CO2, as per examples waste-to-chemical, waste-to-plastic, waste-to-energy, waste-to-hydrogen.
The investments in Energy Transition projects ramp up exponentially since 2020 so that they today exceed refining and petrochemical capital expenditure. We can also notice that most of these Decarbonation or recycling projects combine CO2 with hydrogen (H2) to create green chemical products.
To know more about these Energy Transition projects in the world, have a look into www.projectsmartexplorer.com database.
