Present achievements and future directions of advanced carbon dioxide reduction strategies

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to assess carbon dioxide (CO₂) reduction research and strategies, in view of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and in particular SDG 13 ‘Climate Action’, achievement. According to current understanding, limiting global warming to a determined temperature level requires stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gases by achieving net-zero emissions. This implies that all residual emissions should be counterbalanced by natural or technical long-term storage sinks. Therefore, CO₂ reduction and storage appear to be essential for curtailing global warming and for the stabilization of global climate, as a precondition for the achievement of SDGs. Catalyst preparation has a high impact on carbon removal technology, especially as far as the most promising methods, such as electrochemical and photochemical reduction, are concerned. Even if the two technologies might preliminarily appear different, the inner mechanisms, that is, electron transfer and surface absorption, are common to both. This study analyses recent literature on CO₂ catalytic reduction through the analysis of network maps created by VOSviewer to spotlight the most promising areas for the sector’s improvement.