US should reuse captured CO2 to make concrete, jet fuel, report

Carbon dioxide products can play an important role in the push to achieve net-zero emissions, but expanding their market reach will require a wide range of policy changes, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The report, released this month and mandated by Congress in the 2020 energy bill, paints a broader picture of potential market opportunities for the use of coal — where CO2 is embedded in products. It says the U.S. could lock up captured or removed CO2 in some durable products, such as concrete, as part of a broader effort to reduce planet-warming emissions and meet the Biden administration’s goal of a net-zero emissions economy by 2050.

While the world needs to electrify as much of its economy as possible, “we can’t talk about decarbonizing many aspects of civilization — namely the materials we use, the food we eat, the chemicals we use, the medicines we need,” said Emily Carter, chairwoman of the committee that wrote the report and a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton University.

Harnessing carbon dioxide can help produce products the world will continue to need, she added.