The Use of Captured CO₂

Reusing captured CO₂ makes carbon capture not only environmentally friendly, but also economically beneficial. There are almost unlimited uses for the CO₂ that we capture from power plants and industrial facilities, but here are some of the most innovative that are actually being implemented today:

• The craft brewing industry uses the CO₂ produced during the fermentation process, captures it, and reuses it when canning or bottling
• Captured CO₂ can be used to grow micro-algae for processing to biofuel, fertilizer, and fish food, among others
• Car manufacturers are using captured CO₂ to make a new foam for use in car seats and interiors
• CO₂ can be captured and converted to carbon-monoxide and used as a reagent for fuels like ethanol or diesel
• Coffee roasters use CO₂ to decaffeinate their coffees
• Greenhouses can use CO₂ to enhance plant growth
• Captured CO₂ can be converted to baking soda
• Frozen carbon dioxide is used as dry ice

With an abundance of anthropogenic CO₂ being produced across industries, finding a home for the carbon dioxide after capture has become a focal point in the CO₂ capture industry. In many cases, the costs of capture can be offset in part by effectively utilizing the captured CO₂ in a number of applications, as seen above.

The ION team believes the most profitable and largest market for captured CO₂ is in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). During this well-established and demonstrably safe process, which has been in use since the early 1970s, CO₂ is injected into oil depositories where it loosens the oil from geological formations and allows it to move towards extraction wells. Any CO₂ that emerges with the produced oil is separated in above-ground facilities and recycled back into the EOR process or injected back into the reservoir for long-term sequestration.