About how to capture and exploit the CO2 surplus that nature, per se, is not capable of fixing

Abstract

10 p.-2 fig. ; Human activity has been altering many ecological cycles for decades, disturbing the natural mechanisms which are responsible for re-establishing the normal environmental balances. Probably, the most disrupted of these cycles is the cycle of carbon. In this context, many technologies have been developed for an efficient CO2 removal from the atmosphere. Once captured, it could be stored in large geological formations and other reservoirs like oceans. This strategy could present some environmental and economic problems. Alternately, CO2 can be transformed into carbonates or different added-value products, such as biofuels and bioplastics, recycling CO2 from fossil fuel. Currently different methods are being studied in this field. We classified them into biological, inorganic and hybrid systems for CO2 transformation. To be environmentally compatible, they should be powered by renewable energy sources. Although hybrid systems are still incipient technologies, they have made great advances in the recent years. In this scenario, biotechnology is the spearhead of ambitious strategies to capture CO2 and reduce global warming. ; Research on polymer biotechnology at the laboratory of Auxiliadora Prieto is supported by grants from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreements, no 633962, no. 679050, no. 745791 and no. 745737. We also acknowledge the Community of Madrid (P2013/MIT2807) and the Spanish Ministry of Economy (BIO2013-44878R, BIO2014- 61515-EXP). ; Peer reviewed