Sustainable chemical processing and energy-carbon dioxide management: Review of challenges and opportunities

Energy is the driving force for growth and per-capita energy consumption is a key parameter for the development of a nation. Carbon dioxide emissions from burning of fossil fuels are the main concerns for global warming. This paper presents a brief review of the available energy sources, CO2-emissions and management, and sustainable chemical processing, where energy consumption, CO2-emission, as well as economics and environmental impacts are considered. Not all available energy sources have been utilized efficiently, while, the energy source causing the largest emission of CO2 is being used in the largest amount. The CO2 management is therefore looking at curing the problem rather than preventing it. Examples highlighting the synthesis, design and analysis of sustainable chemical processing are presented in the areas of utilization of biomass-based energy-chemicals production, carbon-capture and utilization to produce value added chemicals, and retrofit design of energy intensive chemical processes with significant reduction of energy-consumption are presented. These examples highlight issues of energy-sustainable design, energy-CO2 neutral design, energy-retrofit design, and energy-process intensification. Finally, some perspectives on the status and future directions of carbon dioxide management are outlined. (C) 2017 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.