The contribution of the utilization option to reducing the CO2 atmospheric loading:: research needed to overcome existing barriers for a full exploitation of the potential of the CO2 use

The use of CO2 (biological/chemical/technological) is the only technology that may contribute to reducing the atmospheric loading while generating a profit. In this paper some options that may find an early industrial application are considered, and barriers that need to be overcome for their full implementation are analyzed. Options that may produce a reduction of the immission into the atmosphere of the order Of 1 Mt/y of CO2 are considered. The estimate of the atmospheric reduced loading, in case the various options are implemented, ranges at 300 Mt/y in the short-medium term, with an upper limit of 700 Mt/y in the long term. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.