Carbon dioxide utilization and circular economy: the world, Russia and the Arctic

Abstract

Sustainable development of regions, territories, and industrial complexes is becoming increasingly important in the context of global environmental challenges. The practical realization of the sustainability challenges depends more on the implementation of specific technologies, including greenhouse emission mitigation technologies. Today, the development and scaling out of CC(U)S (carbon capture, utilization and storage) technologies seems to be one of the most realistic ways to reduce CO2 emissions. The role of CO2 is changing in the context of circular economy principles, it is no longer considered as industrial waste, but as a valuable resource. The aim of this paper is to analyze and assess the prospects for carbon dioxide utilization, as well as the cost-effectiveness of CC(U)S initiatives (using the example of a CO2-based methanol production project in Iceland) in order to explore the prerequisites and opportunities for the development of such projects in the Arctic. In order to assess the spread of technology worldwide, an analysis of foreign experience in implementing such initiatives is presented, as well as the main promising ways of carbon dioxide utilization and their key features are identified. The economic efficiency of the CO2-based methanol production project (by the example of a commercial project in Iceland) is substantiated. A general vision of the prerequisites and opportunities for the implementation of CC(U)S initiatives in the Arctic regions is presented.

Keywords

• cc(u)s technologies
• circular economy
• carbon dioxide
• economic efficiency
• arctic
• utilization
• foreign experience