The Insignificant Role of Dry Reforming of Methane in CO₂ Emission Relief

The growing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration exceeded 415 ppm in 2019 from 280 ppm before the industrial revolution because of anthropogenic activities and has become one of the most pressing issues associated with climate change.(1) To meet the Paris Agreement objectives to keep global warming below 2 °C, carbon capture and utilization (CCU) and/or reduction of CO2 emission of at least 30 gigatons of CO2 (GtCO2)/yr is needed.(2−4) To achieve a meaningful impact on both the economy and the environment, carbon dioxide utilization (CDU) must be conducted for profitable industrial applications in addition to net zero CO2 emissions.(5,6) The importance of CDU in carbon management has long been recognized, and CO2 is projected to play an essential role as the future C1 raw material in the post fossil fuels era.(7) However, at the present time, even if the carbon footprint of the energy consumption for CDU, with carbon in the most thermodynamically stable oxidation state of +4, is not considered,(8) the scale of its impact is limited.