Non-thermal plasma approaches in CO2 utilization

CO2 is the final product of combustion of all fossil fuels. CO2 itself has little value by far, but it contributes more than 50% to the man-made greenhouse effect among all the greenhouse gases. There is still no proven technology for the chemical utilization of such a plentiful carbon resource, Recently, non-thermal plasmas have been found to be effective in the activation of CO2 for the formation of more valuable hydrocarbons. The non-thermal plasma approaches can even be performed at ambient condition. In this review, the present state of carbon dioxide utilization via non-thermal plasmas is addressed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.