- Fuels, - chemicals, - building materials from minerals, - building materials from waste, and - CO2 use to enhance the yields of biological processes. All five categories could individually be scaled-up to a market size of at least 10 MtCO2/yr – almost as much as the current CO2 demand for food and beverage CO2 use can support climate goals where the application is scalable, uses low-carbon energy and displaces a product with higher life-cycle emissions. Some CO2-derived products also involve permanent carbon retention, in particular building materials. ![[Pasted image 20211024152557.png]] Building materials in the short term > global private funding for CO2 use start-ups reaching nearly USD 1 billion over the last decade. ![[Pasted image 20211024152833.png]] ![[Pasted image 20211024152845.png]] ![[Pasted image 20211024152858.png]] ![[Pasted image 20211024152743.png]] [https://ispt.eu/projects/carbon-transition-model](https://ispt.eu/projects/carbon-transition-model)/ Already, ethanol makers capture about 20% of that CO2 to sell to soda bottlers or for dry ice. Globally, some **230 million tonnes (Mt**) of carbon dioxide (CO2) are used every year.  The largest consumer is the **fertiliser industry,** where 130 Mt CO2 is used in urea manufacturing, followed by oil and gas, with a consumption of 70 to 80 Mt CO2 for enhanced oil recovery. Other commercial applications include food and beverage production, metal fabrication, cooling, fire suppression and stimulating plant growth in greenhouses. Most commercial applications today involve direct use of CO2. [https://www.iea.org/reports/putting-co2-to-use](https://www.iea.org/reports/putting-co2-to-use) The production of CO2-based fuels and chemicals is **energy-intensive and requires large amounts of hydrogen**. The carbon in CO2 enables the conversion of hydrogen into a fuel that is easier to handle and use, for example as an aviation fuel. CO2 can also **replace fossil fuels **as a raw material in chemicals and polymers. Less energy-intensive pathways include reacting CO2 with minerals or waste streams, such as iron slag, to form carbonates for building materials > The climate benefits associated with CO2 use primarily arise from displacing a product or service with one that has higher life-cycle CO2 emissions, such as fossil-based fuels, chemicals or conventional building materials. ##### 5 key considerations in assessing the climate benefits of CO2 use: 1. The source of CO2 (from natural deposits, fossil fuels, biomass or the air). 2. The product or service the CO2-based product or service is displacing 3. How much and what form of energy is used to convert the CO2 4. How long the carbon is retained in the product 5. The scale of the opportunity for CO2 use