The implementation of carbon dioxide utilization as a raw material in a circular economy and as an energy source takes shape at a fast pace. Various technologies can be used to produce gaseous and fluid fuels (e.g. methane, petrol, diesel, kerosene) from captured CO₂ and renewable energies like solar or wind energy. In addition, the same technologies can be used to produce chemical building blocks that can supply basically all chemical and plastics industries.

Leading players of the CO₂ economy will showcase their latest technological breakthroughs at the fourth conference “Carbon Dioxide as Feedstock for Fuels, Chemistry and Polymers“, hosted by Nova-Institute, 29-30 September 2015 in Essen, Germany.

Particularly in the field of solar fuels and power-to-gas technologies several project developers and companies are concentrating on technologies to convert carbon dioxide to fuels. The conference will provide insight into technologies of carbon dioxide capture and purification with presentations from Carbon Recycling International and NewCO₂Fuels. CarbonOrO has developed a technology for CO₂ capture using low-temperature amine desorption.

Using carbon dioxide as feedstock for fuels, chemistry and polymers is a big challenge and chance for a sustainable future and has immense potential for the coming decade. Advances in these areas will be presented by some of the leading companies in commercial production of CO₂-based polymers, like Covestro (formerly Bayer MaterialScience), which is planning to start a production plant for polyurethanes based on carbon dioxide in 2016. Sunfire is going to illustrate its technology to produce synthetic hydrocarbons such as synthetic kerosene, benzene and diesel from CO₂, water and green electricity.

Prof. Nathan Lewis, Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, will talk about the development of a solar-fuel generation technology using artificial photosynthesis.

Visionary concepts to use the potential of wind, solar and other renewable energies for Power-to-X in the South African process industries will be presented by Prof. Tobias Bischof-Niemz from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

CO₂-based fuels are now explicitly included in the latest version of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) reform, and can be used instead of fuels made from biomass in order to fulfil the renewable fuels quotas. Representatives of the European Commission will present the current status of political reform and discuss future prospects for developments after 2020.